Doris Leblond
OGJ Correspondent
PARIS, June 11 -- Gaz de France has made a natural gas discovery on Egypt's West El Burullus (WEB) prospect off northeast Alexandria in the Mediterranean Sea. Gaz de France is operator in a 50-50 partnership with Dana Petroleum PLC.
The WEB-1X exploration well was drilled on the 1,364 sq km acreage within a production-sharing contract that became effective in late 2005. A 3D seismic survey shot in 2006 led to the WEB- X1 well's being drilled in 19 m of water.
The partners used the Ocean Spur jack-up to drill the well to 2,403 m TVD, targeting a Pliocene prospect consisting of a turbidite sandstone channel system. The well encountered good quality gas-bearing sands, the company said, and extensive wireline logs were run to maximize the acquired data.
In a multiflow rate drillstem test of the reservoir sequence, the well flowed at up to 27 MMcfd of gas.
The acquired data will now be analyzed and an appraisal program defined. Numerous additional prospects have been identified by Gaz de France and Dana within the WEB exploration and production license. In addition, other exploration targets within deeper horizons such as the Miocene and Oligocene will be considered. West El Burullus was described by the two companies as having "outstanding exploration potential."
