CAIRO: Kuwait Energy announced on Sunday that it had discovered a new oil field, Al Zahraa, in East Ras Qattara (ERQ) in Egypt's Western Desert, with an expected daily production rate of 2,615 barrels of oil. It is one of the largest private exploration and production companies in the Middle East and has long viewed Egypt as a possible place for expansion. It has been exploring Egyptian oil fields since 2006. Kuwait Energy's share and working interest of the field is 49.5%. The East Ras Qattara Concession was acquired in March 2008 and is operated in concession with Sipetrol, the international subsidiary of Chile's state oil company Enap, which in recent years has reported a number of new discoveries in the North African nation. This is Kuwait Energy's fourth such discovery in Egypt since the start of its exploration program in Egypt in 2006. The company currently owns ten exploration and production blocks in five areas across Egypt and recently announced the discoveries of Shukheir NW, Shahd SE and Rana SE oil fields in Area A and East Ras Qattara, Kuwait Energy deputy Chairman Mohamad al-Howqal said in a press release. “Our continued discoveries in Egypt are the result of our teams ability to employ cutting edge technologies in an area where others have been less successful in their search. We are very proud of our team and of their Egypt discoveries to date”, he added. Gulf oil companies, in recent years, have looked to Egypt as possible expansion for their stagnating exploration efforts in the Gulf. Dana Gas and Kuwait Energy are the two leading companies working Egypt's massive deserts. Kuwait Energy has a total of five exploration wells and five development wells scheduled for drilling during the second half of the year. BM
