Germany's RWE, a Suez Oil Company (SUCO) partner, has increased investment allocations for the 2014/2015 fiscal year to approximately $300m compared to the previous $218m, according to a company official. The new investments will be utilised to drill new wells and develop others in the Ras Badran, Ras Fanar, and Gabal El-Zeit oil fields in the Gulf of Suez. SUCO hopes to increase its reserves to 64.5m barrels of recoverable crude oil by 5% annually, the official said. He explained that the recoverable reserves increased by approximately 16.78m barrels of oil during FY 2012/2013. Over the past three years, this figure increased by 30m barrels, representing more than 45% of the company's remaining reserves. The search for crude oil in older wells in the Ras Badran field by penetrating a second layer in the ground is currently underway, the official said. SUCO and RWE are conducting integrated studies for the three oil fields to better understand how to draw out the last of their reserves, in a move aimed at increasing the number of wells excavated in the near future. The number of laboratories equipped to retrieve oil-wet rocks located in Ras Badran will be increased. Tests will be performed on both oil-wet and water-wet rocks in order to increase crude oil production rates and draw out crude oil on rocks , the official added. If successful, the experiment will be considered a global achievement, and an increase in investments estimated for next year's budget is anticipated as a result. The official mentioned that SUCO was founded in 1979 to undertake operations for the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC), as well as a group of other companies including BP and Shell in areas covered by petroleum concession agreements. SUCO concluded these agreements with the Egyptian government. The official noted that many companies had stopped making investments to companies operating in exploration and extraction, as share ownership stabilised in 2002 for RWE Dea LLC.
