Eni makes large oil find in Egyptian desert

Eni has made a significant oil find in the exploratory block Emry Deep, as part of the Meleiha Concession in Egypt's Western Desert, 290 kilometres south-west of Alexandria. During production tests, the well produced 3,500 barrels of high quality oil per day and about 28,000 cubic metres of associated gas per day. The size of the find is estimated at between 150 and 250 million barrels of oil and will require further delineation wells. Eni's statement reports that the exploratory well Emry Deep 1X, which made the discovery possible, was drilled to a depth of 3,628 metres and met with a mineralised net thickness of lightweight oil of over 76 metres in multiple good quality Lower Cretaceous reservoirs. "The drilling of Emry Deep is part of Eni's new strategy in Egypt aiming to refocus exploratory activities in deep areas located in the western desert," the group noted. "The development of the discovery calls for an initial production phase of the Emry Deep 1X well, followed in 2012 by the drilling of additional development wells to reach over the coming months a production level assessed at about 10,000 barrels of oil per day. Production will be go to the nearby treatment facilities of the Meleiha field. The short time-to-market for the development of the field is part of Eni's strategy to focus on the rapid development of conventional and synergetic assets. Eni concluded by saying that the new find confirms the significant exploratory potential still present in the deep geological sequences of the Meleiha Concession, thanks to the new 3D survey recently conducted." By way of its subsidiary International Egyptian Oil Company (IEOC), Eni holds a 56% share in the Meleiha Concession, alongside its partners Lukoil (24%) and Mitsui (20%). Agiba, operating company held by IEOC (40%), Mitsui (10%) and EGPC (50%), is the operator of the Emry Deep Project. Eni has been present in Egypt since 1954, where it works by way of IEOC, and is the main producer with production equity of about 240,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2011. In Egypt's Western Desert Eni produces about 36,000 barrels of oil per day in five different development leases, all operated by Agiba. (ANSAmed).