Circle Oil says its Egyptian well is oil bearing

Circle Oil has said that its Egyptian well, Al Ola-1X, was oil bearing with no sign of oil-water contact. The company, which has assets in Morocco, Oman and Egypt also said its secondary target at the well gave strong indications of gas. The well is planned to be drilled to a total depth of 13,700 feet.

“We are delighted with Al Ola-1X proving up the Kareem sands yet again and proving up the field extension in the south. The secondary target has also given strong shows of gas .Once this well is finished, we will consider the need for some injector support drilling before undertaking more appraisal and development wells," said Chief Executive Chris Green.

Circle Oil said it has agreed, along with its partners, on plans to bring gas associated with the NW Gemsa concession producing wells in Egypt into production, presently planned to be completed within the next six months. Current gross production from the Al Amir and Geyad fields in the NW Gemsa concession is 9,000 to 9,500 b/d.

To find out more about Circle Oil please visit Circle Oil's web site, which you can find here.

For more news and expert analysis about Egypt, please see Egypt Politics & Security.

© 2010 Menas Associates

Egypt's oil industry is booming according to EPA

According to the Egyptian press, the country's oil industry has enjoyed major success during the 2009-10 financial year which ended on 30th June. The Egyptian Petroleum Authority (EPA) reported that the country's proven reserves of oil and natural gas rose to 18.3 billion barrels in 2009-10, and that they are expected to rise to 20 billion barrels in the next two years. During the last decade, Egypt has achieved considerable success with its oil and gas discoveries, reportedly exceeding those of Libya, Tunisia and Algeria combined.

The combination of relatively attractive fiscal terms – certainly when compared with those in Algeria and Libya which are both also experiencing bouts of resources nationalism – plus the sustained onshore and offshore drilling and exploration programmes in a wide variety of regions across Egypt has led to an influx of small and large IOCs thereby increasing oil reserves.

In 2009, gas was the dominant fuel for Egypt, accounting for an estimated 50 per cent of it primary energy demand, followed by oil at 43.1 per cent. During the year, Egypt signed agreements with IOCs with a total value of US$8 billion including last month's major deal signed with BP and its partner RWE to develop their offshore fields.

For more news and expert analysis about Egypt, please see Egypt Politics & Security.

© 2010 Menas Associates

ERC signs US$2.6 billion debt package to finance oil refinery construction

The Egyptian Refining Company (ERC) has signed a debt package of US$2.6 billion to finance construction of a US$3.7 billion second-stage oil refinery in the Greater Cairo Area.

The refinery is expected to produce over 4 million tonnes of refined products per annum, including over 2.3 million tonnes of EURO V diesel.

ERC's production will be sold to the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) under a 25-year agreement.

ERC is a partnership between Citadel Capital, the leading private equity firm in the Middle East, and the EGPC.

For more news and expert analysis about Egypt, please see Egypt Politics & Security.

© 2010 Menas Associates

Egypt and Yemen plan for a co-owned oil company

The Egyptian-Yemeni oil, gas and mining committee are in the concluding stages of establishing a mutually co-owned oil company, the first of its kind between Egypt and Yemen. The co-operation agreement was reached after a two day summit between oil and gas representatives for both countries.

The new oil company equally co-owned by both parties will be unique, said Egyptian Ambassador to Yemen, Mohamed Morsi Awad. He added that the new venture will help strengthen the bond between the two countries and should be an example to others.

Both countries have asserted their interest in working together on forthcoming oil, gas and mining projects, and future developments. Aswad concluded by saying that the cooperation will benefit both peoples and states.

Source: Global Arab Network

For more news and expert analysis about Egypt, please see Egypt Politics & Security.

Egypt: Circle Oil tests Al Amir 1-ST2 well for production

Circle Oil has announced that the Al Amir 1-ST2 well, 300 km southeast of Cairo in the Gulf of Suez Basin, initially drilled in 2008, has been tested for production. The initial flow rate estimated on 2nd August was around 278 b/d on a 128/64" choke using a sucker rod pump.

The productive interval was perforated from 4,730-4,778 ft MD and consists of porous carbonates within the evaporitic sequence of the South Gharib formation. The original drill stem test (DST) of that zone, conducted in 2008, produced up to 416 b/d of 16°API oil using nitrogen lift. Once the South Gharib test and engineering is completed the well is expected to be put on production and the oil trucked to the Zeitco terminal.

Current production from the Al Amir, Al Amir SE and Geyad fields in the NW Gemsa concession is 9,200 to 9,500 b/d.

To find out more about Circle Oil please visit Circle Oil's web site, which you can find here.

For more news and expert analysis about Egypt, please see Egypt Politics & Security.

© 2010 Menas Associates