Germany's oil and gas exploration and production firm RWE Dea Egypt has launched production at a fourth natural gas North West Khilala well (NWK1-4), located in the Nile Delta region, the Ministry of Petroleum said Friday. "We are pleased that the NWK field has now reached its production target of 60 million standard cubic feet of gas per day, in line with our initial expectations," General Manager of RWE Dea Egypt Maximilian Fellner said in the statement. Drilling of the well, which is part of the larger NWK field, was successfully concluded in March, the company said, and it is set to produce about 450,000 standard cubic metres of gas per day. Through the new well, RWE Dea Egypt has reached its production target from the Disouq natural gas project in northern Egypt, the statement from the ministry added. The Disouq natural gas project, which is operated by the German firm, had planned to include the development of seven gas fields. Currently, there are already three other wells on stream in the Nile Delta. In the first phase of the project, the expected production is approximately 430bn standard cubic feet of gas from the seven gas fields, along with the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) and the Suez Oil Company (SUCO). RWE Dea Egypt has been operating successfully in Egypt since 1974. The company has a total of 10 onshore and offshore concessions in Egypt, over an area of about 3,700 square kilometres. Egypt's natural gas production in December 2013 slumped by 11.86%, recording 3,353 tonnes, the Information and Decision Support Centre (IDSC) said in a recent report. About 24.1% of total investments in Egypt were directed towards the oil and gas sector in fiscal year 2012/2013, according to the Ministry of Planning. In an effort to increase the country's oil and gas production, Minister of Petroleum Sherif Ismail signed in March three separate $717m agreements with British and Canadian firms for oil and natural gas exploration in the Mediterranean and Nile Delta regions.
