British Petroleum (BP) Egypt announced Monday a significant gas discovery in the East Nile Delta in the Mediterranean Sea.
The “Atoll-1” deepwater exploration well, currently being drilled using the 6th generation semi-submersible rig “Maersk Discoverer,” has reached 6,400 meters depth and penetrated approximately 50 meters of gas pay in high quality Oligocene sandstones, according to the website of BP Egypt.
Expected to be the deepest well ever drilled in Egypt, the Atoll well still has another 1 kilometre to drill to test the same reservoir section found to be gas bearing in BP’s significant 2013 Salamat discovery, 15 kilometres to the south.
“Success in Atoll further increases our confidence in the quality of the Nile Delta as a world class gas basin. This is the second significant discovery in the licence after Salamat. The estimated potential in the concession exceeds 5 trillion cubic feet (tcf) and we now have a positive starting point for the next possible major project in Egypt after BP’s West Nile Delta project,” said Bob Dudley, BP Group Chief Executive.
“The Atoll discovery is a great outcome for our second well in this core exploration program in the East Nile Delta. It demonstrates BP’s continuous efforts to help in meeting Egypt’s energy demands by exploring the potential in the offshore Nile Delta. We are proud of our commitment to unlock Egypt’s exploration potential that requires large investments to utilize using the latest drilling and seismic technologies," said Hesham Mekawi, BP North Africa Regional President.
Atoll-1 was drilled in 923m water depth around 80km north of Damietta city, 15km north of Salamat and only 45 km to the north west of Temsah offshore facilities. BP has 100% equity in the discovery.