Shell JV to Invest $600 Million in Egypt's Western Desert Concession

Badr Petroleum Company (Bapetco), a joint venture between the Egyptian General Petroleum Company (EGPC) and Royal Dutch Shell is planning to invest $600 million in exportation and production operations in its Western Desert concession areas.

The development is part of Shell’s exploration plan for the new 2012-2013 fiscal year. The company plans to drill 65 exploratory and developmental wells to boost reserves and production rates of the fields.

Sherif Sousa, President of Bapetco, stated that drilling commenced in Alam Al-Shawish development lease, following the successful extraction of natural gas from the Apollonian formation for the first time in Egypt.

The company will also drill three appraisal wells with daily production rates of 5 million cubic feet of natural gas using foam hydraulic fracturing technology for the first time in Egypt or North Africa. Wells drilled with older techniques only produced approximately 0.5 million cubic feet per day.

The wells’ estimated reserves stand at approximately 600 billion cubic feet. A project is in progress to increase the amount of extractable oil from the Bahga, Sitra and Badr-3 fields by approximately 15 million barrels.

Sousa stated that the drilling of 20 new wells has commenced in the Sitra field to double its production and increase the extractable oil by 8 million barrels. The company will also drill 55 developmental wells and 10 exploratory wells during the current fiscal year in light of the company’s daily oil and gas production reaching 36,000 barrels of oil and 400 million cubic feet of natural gas, an increase of 3% from the plan.