Shell considers drilling exploratory gas well at Rosetta field after one-year production halt

Government's review of gas prices encourages re-exploration in old fields, says Shell Egypt

Dutch Shell considers drilling an exploratory gas well in Rosetta field in Rashid concession, after it stopped production about a year ago. The company retracted the concession sale offer announced in November 2016, and the production rate at the time was 30m cubic feet of gas per day (scf/day) before halting.
Deputy Chairperson of Shell Egypt Moataz Darwish told Daily News Egypt that the company is currently studying the possibility of drilling an exploratory well in Rosetta field to resume production.
He said the field stooped production due to depletion of gas reserves, which is considered normal in the oil and gas industry with the natural decline rates of the fields.
Darwish added that the Egyptian government's decision to review gas prices with foreign partners has contributed to encouraging companies to implement programmes to develop and increase production rates, as well as consider reinvesting despite the high cost.
He explained that the Ministry of Petroleum approved price scheme linked the local price with crude Brent. It is considered a major development that keeps pace with the industry changes.
Noteworthy, the Rosetta field started production in 2001 with a capacity of 175m scf/day, then its production increased to about 275m scf/day, and reached its highest level at 420m scf/day.
Darwish said that in case of discovering reasonable gas reserves in the new exploratory well in Rosetta, its production will be linked to the Burullus gas processing plant, after the Rosetta plant was sold to BP.
He explained that the total production of Shell currently amounts to about 350m scf/day, and is produced from the Burullus field in the Mediterranean Sea. Moreover, an exploration well is being drilled in the Burullus, and the company seeks to drill a second.