Belayim Petroleum (Petrobel) completed the construction of 18 km-long, 26-inch-diameter offshore production line and 25 km-long, 26-inch-diameter onshore line, as well as the manufacture and installation of the offshore production platform within the development of the Baltim South West gas field, three months ahead of schedule. Atef Hassan, chairperson of Petrobel, said the field's first well is expected to enter production in the coming days, and it is planned to complete drilling five more wells in 2019/20, bringing the total production of the field to about 500m cubic feet per day (scf/day). The financial results of the company presented to the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Tarek El-Mulla, showed that Petrobel succeeded in implementing an integrated action plan supported by all partners to achieve its objectives as an operating company and achieved positive performance indicators and results. Hassan said that the company's production in 2018/19 reached about 358,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The company's production rates were about 1.475bn scf/day, about 70,000 barrels of oil, 14,000 barrels of condensates, and about 274 tonnes of butane gas per day. He pointed out that the current average production of Petrobel exceeded 803,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day for the first time since its establishment. Hassan added that the company's investments for exploration, development, and operation of gas and oil fields amounted to about $1.21bn, including $691m for development and $331m for operational expenses, saving 11% of the target budget, whilst maintaining the same production rates, which cut the target cost for production by 10% against the planned. Hassan highlighted the successful exploration in Rhodes-Sedri area, which was discovered in the 1970s, and Ras Jara in Sinai by drilling Sedri 23 exploration well and adding new reserves estimated at about 8m barrels of oil.
