A rig is expected to arrive in February to drill development wells in Lagia oil field on the Sinai Peninsula side of Egypt’s Gulf of Suez in preparation for a cyclic steamflood pilot.
Oil production from Lagia field, as close as 26 km south of the producing Sudr, Matarma, and Asl onshore oil fields, is expected to start in the second quarter of 2012, said MENA Hydrocarbons Inc., Calgary.
The existing Lagia 6 and 7 wells are to be completed with a downhole pump and two development wells and two appraisal wells are planned to be drilled to the top of the Eocene Thebes formation at 1,500 ft. The development wells will be completed with thermal casing to accommodate steam from a 24 MMBtu plant.
MENA owns Lagia Development Lease covering 32 sq km along the gulf. Four wells drilled between 1949 and 2000 have identified the oil field. Consulting engineers estimate a contingent resource of as much as 12 million bbl of heavy oil with potential for lighter oil in deeper formations.