By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Apr. 3 -- Apache Corp. has made a gas discovery on the Matruh Concession in Egypt's Western Desert with the Jade-1X well, which extends the known productive limits of the Jurassic gas fairway almost 12 miles southwest of existing Jurassic production.
"This discovery also suggests significant reserve potential exists in multiple Alam El Bueib (AEB) reservoir objectives," said Apache CEO, Pres., and Chief Operating Officer G. Steven Farris.
"We plan to drill five additional Jurassic and two AEB exploratory wells on the concession this year," he said.
The Jade-1X well encountered a total of 65 ft of net pay in the Jurassic Upper Safa member of the Khatatba formation. On a test to evaluate 32 ft of the net pay, the well flowed at 25.6 MMcfd from perforations at 13,850-82 ft through a 1-in. choke with 1,382 psi of flowing wellhead pressure.
The remaining 33 ft of Upper Safa net pay in three sands between 13,480 ft and 13,750 ft will be perforated shortly, and gas from those zones will be commingled with that of the lower zone when the well comes on production around midyear.
Jade-1X also logged 217 ft of pay in the AEB 3D, 3G, and 6 sands. Apache plans to move the rig about 2 miles north of the Jade-1X discovery to appraise the AEB reservoirs. The AEB is a prolific producer throughout the 3.8-million-acre Greater Khalda complex, which includes Matruh. The company operates the Matruh Concession and holds a 100% contractor interest. The concession comprises more than a quarter-million acres.
Meanwhile, Apache is currently constructing two additional trains in the Khalda Concession to increase takeaway capacity by 200 MMcfd of gas to about 750 MMcfd. Construction is expected to be completed by yearend 2008.
