British Petroleum (BP) aims to link 250m cubic feet (scf/day) of natural gas per day to the production from the Giza and Fayoum fields in the northern Alexandria project of the Mediterranean Sea's deep water, this week. A source at the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) told Daily News Egypt that the total production of Giza and Fayoum fields in Alexandria's deep-water project will reach about 680m scf/day during the current month. This is the maximum production rate for the two fields. He explained that the production of gas from Giza and Fayoum fields started last February with a capacity of about 430m scf/day. The fields include eight wells in the deep water in the Mediterranean Sea. The source added that BP is carrying out development of the project of the northern Alexandria deep water project in the Mediterranean according to the plan agreed on with the EGAS. The plan aims to connect about 850m scf/day from the Raven field in the project's third phase by the end of 2019 with an initial production rate of 350m scf/day. He pointed out that a special gas treatment plant is currently under construction near the Rasheed treatment plant. It will be processing the gas produced from the Raven field with a capacity of 900m scf/day. Furthermore, he pointed out that the natural gas produced from the Raven field will have special specifications different from the two previous phases in the Libra, Taurus, Giza, and Fayoum fields. Moreover, the construction of a treatment plant next to the Rasheed treatment plant is underway. The production of the North Alexandria Project is expected to increase with full production starting this year, bringing the combined production of the three phases of the West Nile Delta Project to approximately 1.4bn scf/day. This is equivalent to about 20% of Egypt's current gas production. Additionally, quantities of the gas produced will soon be pumped to the national grid. The source said that the ministry of petroleum is working with foreign partners to accelerate the development of fields and link them to the production of the natural gas national network. They plan to do this ahead of the specified dates in the plan. A committee headed by the minister of petroleum and includes several ministries was formed by the cabinet to turn Egypt into a logistical centre. The source explained that these wells will contribute toward compensating the natural rate decline of local production and will contribute to increasing production to more than 7m scf/day.
