BP announced Thursday another important gas discovery in the Baltim South Development Lease in Egypt's East Nile Delta. The Baltim SW-1 exploration well, drilled in water depth of 25 metres by operator IEOC (Eni), reached a total depth of 3750 metres depth and penetrated approximately 62 metres of net gas pay in high quality Messinian sandstones. The discovery, which is located 12 kilometres from shoreline, is a new accumulation along the same trend of the Nooros field discovered in July 2015 and currently producing 65,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. Further appraisal activities will be required to underpin the full resource potential of the discovery. "It is the third discovery along the Nooros trend and confirms the great potential of the Messinian play and its significant upside in the area." Hesham Mekawi, Regional President of BP North Africa, said. "Our plan is to utilise existing infrastructure which will accelerate the development of the discovery, and expedite early production start-up. This announcement is another example of BP's commitment to unlock resources in order to bring critical gas production to Egypt." BP holds a 50 percent stake in the Baltim South Development lease, and Eni, through its subsidiary IEOC, holds 50%. The well was drilled by Petrobel, a joint venture between IEOC and the state partner Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC). Over the past 10 years, BP has invested more than $90 billion in the U.S. - more than any other energy company. BP is a leading producer of oil and gas and produces enough energy annually to light nearly the entire country for a year. Employing about 16,000 people across the country, BP supports more than 170,000 additional jobs through all of its business activities. To date, BP Egypt, in collaboration with the Gulf of Suez Petroleum Company (GUPCO), BP's joint venture (JV) Company with the Egyptian General Petroleum Company (EGPC), has produced almost 40 percent of Egypt's entire oil production, and currently produces almost 10 percent of Egypt's annual oil and condensate. In addition, through joint ventures with EGPC/EGAS and IEOC (ENI) the Pharaonic Petroleum Company (PhPC) and Petrobel BP currently produces close to 30% of Egypt's total gas. BP has made a series of discoveries in Egypt in recent years including Taurt North, Seth South and Salmon and Rahamat, Satis, Hodoa, Notus, Salamat and Atoll.
