Exploration/discoveries

Eni Finds More Oil in Egypt’s Western Desert

New discoveries in the Meleiha concession add 8,500 BOE to production.

Desert landscape oil rig

Eni struck new oil and gas reserves with a trio of discoveries in the Meleiha concessions of Egypt’s Western Desert. The finds have already been tied into existing infrastructure in the region and have added around 8,500 BOED to overall production from the area.

The operator drilled the Nada E Deep 1X well, which encountered 60 m of net hydrocarbon pay in the Cretaceous-Jurassic Alam El Bueib and Khatatba formations Meleiha SE Deep 1X well, which found 30 m of net hydrocarbon pay in the Cretaceous-Jurassic sands of the Matruh Khatatba formations, and the Emry Deep 21 well, which encountered 35 m of net hydrocarbon pay in the massive cretaceous sandstones of Alam El Bueib.

The results, added to the discoveries of 2021 for a total of eight exploration wells, give Eni a 75% success rate in the region. The company added that additional exploration activities in the concession are ongoing with “promising indications.”

With these discoveries, Eni, through AGIBA, a joint venture between Eni and EGPC, continues to pursue its near-field strategy in the mature basin of the Western Desert, aimed at maximizing production by containing development costs and minimizing time to market. Eni is planning a new high-resolution 3D seismic survey in the Meleiha concession this year to investigate the gas potential of the area.

Eni is currently the leading producer in Egypt with an equity production of around 360,000 BOED.