By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Mar. 16 -- Sipetrol International SA, Santiago, operator for a three-company group, has made another oil discovery on the North Bahariya concession in Egypt's Western Desert.
Sipetrol, the international unit of Chile's National Oil Co. (ENAP), reported that this recent discovery closely follows the firm's Ganna-1 oil discovery made last year that identified similar and larger structures on the same concession (OGJ Online, Dec. 23, 2003).
The Ferdaus-1 exploratory well was drilled on a separate structure 4.5 km east of the consortium's Ganna-1 discovery. The well was completed to 9,479 ft TD in the Kharita formation. Cores were cut from two separate reservoirs, both indicating strong presence of hydrocarbons. Two intervals in the Upper Cretaceous Abu Roash formation tested 43° and 45° gravity oil at 940 b/d and 2,300 b/d, respectively, at depths of 8,750-8,600 ft.
In the coming weeks, ENAP said it expects to present to the Egyptian General Petroleum Corp. its technical and economic development plan for these two discoveries. The consortium also plans to spud an additional exploratory well on the concession over the next 2 months. Production from the block is expected later this year.
Concession interest holders are Sipetrol 50%; IPR Transoil Corp., a member of the IPR Group of Cos., Irving, Tex., 30%; and INA Naftaplin of Croatia 20%.
