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A new gas discovery has been made in Egypt’s Western Desert region, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Petroleum & Mineral Resources.

The discovery was made by Khalda Petroleum Company, a joint venture of state-owned Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) and US-headquartered Apache Corporation.

The field is expected to be brought online this week, according to the ministry.

The reserves were discovered after drilling the exploratory well ‘Gomana-1’, the ministry said.

It added that sensors confirmed the presence of gas reserves, and tests indicated that the well is expected to have a production rate of around 36 million standard cubic feet of gas a day.

Further tests are ongoing, and the initial evaluation of the well’s reserves is currently being finalised.

The ministry said that the discovery followed the introduction of new incentives designed to encourage additional gas investment within Khalda’s areas of operation.

Earlier this month, Egypt started gas production from the West Burullus field in the Mediterranean Sea, after connecting the first wells to the national gas grid.

The country is currently pushing to increase domestic gas production in order to meet domestic demand and reduce its import bill.