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Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum & Mineral Resources has announced a new oil and gas discovery in the country’s Western Desert region.
The discovery was made through an exploratory well drilled by Agiba Petroleum Company, a joint venture of state-owned Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) and Italian energy producer Eni, and is already providing gas to Egypt’s network.
The new reserves were discovered by drilling the exploratory well North Lotus Deep-1.
According to the ministry, the well is contributing around 1,835 barrels a day (b/d) of crude oil and 7 million cubic feet a day (cf/d) of gas, equivalent to 3,100 barrels of oil equivalent (boe).
Total reserves are estimated at approximately 5 million boe.
The ministry said that the discovery underscores the Western Desert’s status as a promising hub for oil and gas opportunities and a key destination for international investment.
It also said that it was aligned with Egypt’s strategic objective of gradually increasing domestic energy production and reducing reliance on imports.
Another discovery
The ministry also highlighted another breakthrough at Agiba’s Western Desert operations, where teams achieved production from one of the region’s most complex geological formations, known as the Masajid Deep layer.
At depths exceeding 11,000 feet and with low rock permeability, the formation had previously restricted production from conventional vertical wells.
By deploying horizontal drilling techniques for the first time in the Western Desert, Agiba succeeded in unlocking significant resources at the North Rosa field, boosting output by 7 million cf/d of gas and 550 boe a day (boe/d).
The achievement represented a sixfold increase in productivity from the formation, and it is believed that the technique could be replicated at other sites in the same basin.
During Agiba’s general assembly meeting, chairperson Tharwat El-Gendy reviewed the company’s operational results, reporting investments of $404m during the year.
He noted that the company sustained production levels averaging more than 26,000 b/d and 77 million cf/d – equivalent to over 40,000 boe/d.
El-Gendy added that these production rates were achieved through the drilling of 28 development wells and two exploratory wells.
He also highlighted the commissioning of a new produced water treatment plant, which enabled the company to reinject all associated water into depleted reservoirs.
Francesco Gaspari, chairman of Eni’s Egyptian subsidiary IEOC Production, said that his company was confident in the Western Desert’s untapped potential.
He stressed Eni’s commitment to expanding its operations in the region, noting that unlocking the productivity of the Masajid Formation would pave the way for further discoveries and long-term growth.
