Arab News: A new natural gas discovery in Egypt’s Western Desert has been announced, with initial tests indicating output of about 26 million cubic feet a day of gas and 2,700 barrels a day of condensate.
US energy firm Apache Corp. reported the find, made with the Egyptian General Petroleum Corp. after drilling the SKAL-1X exploratory well in the South Kalabsha area, according to a statement from the north African country’s petroleum ministry.
The find reflects the impact of incentives and procedures introduced by the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, which have encouraged Apache to expand its exploration activities and increase investments, particularly in areas adjacent to its existing concessions.
In August 2024, Egypt unveiled a new set of incentives to stimulate exploration and development, increase output, and reduce the gap between domestic supply and demand. The country is seeking to boost natural gas production and accelerate drilling programs to meet growing demand.
In a statement, the ministry stated: “The new discovery is located in one of the areas recently assigned to the company, close to its current areas of operation, which enhances the feasibility of the investment and reduces costs, given the benefit of geographical proximity to existing infrastructure and production facilities.”
It added: “This approach would contribute to accelerating development processes and putting new discoveries into production as quickly as possible, thus supporting the compensation for the natural decline in production from older fields, while reducing capital expenditures.”
Apache’s investments in Egypt’s petroleum sector rose to approximately $2.7 billion in 2024, up from $2 billion in 2023. Its total crude oil and gas production in the country reached about 211,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, according to company data.
The company plans to drill 34 exploration and development wells in 2026, with investments estimated at around $150 million, as part of efforts to increase production, targeting output of nearly 500 million cubic feet per day of natural gas.
Official estimates put Egypt’s current natural gas production at about 4.2 billion cubic feet per day, compared with domestic demand of about 6.2 billion cubic feet per day, prompting the country to import liquefied natural gas to bridge the gap.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2637482/business-economy
