Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Karim Badawi, accompanied by several leaders from the petroleum sector, inspected on Saturday the development and production of natural gas from the West Nile Delta offshore fields in the Mediterranean Sea. These fields are operated by British Petroleum (BP). During the inspection, the minister closely followed the offshore drilling operations for two new developmental wells dedicated to natural gas and condensate production at the West Raven Gas Field—one of the West Nile Delta fields. This initiative is part of the petroleum sector's plan to enhance natural gas resources in the area through collaboration with BP. The primary goal is to increase gas production from the two wells, West Raven-4 and West Raven-5, which are currently being drilled as part of the West Raven Gas Field development plan in the Mediterranean. The estimated production is approximately 200 million cubic feet of gas and 8,000 barrels of condensates daily during the third quarter of the fiscal year 2024-2025. The investment required for drilling these two wells amounts to approximately $200m. Additionally, there are plans to drill two more wells in the Giza and Fayoum areas of the Mediterranean, with an investment of $120m, following the completion of the wells at the Raven Gas Field. Badawi emphasized the importance of collaborative work programs with major international companies, such as BP, to boost natural gas production. He also highlighted the focus on leveraging modern technologies to enhance productivity in existing fields during offshore drilling operations. BP's operations and investments in Egypt span approximately 60 years, positioning the company as a crucial partner in the Egyptian petroleum and gas sector. Badawi affirmed that BP's investment efforts in Egypt, particularly in exploring and producing natural gas from Egyptian waters in the Mediterranean, will positively impact production goals in the petroleum and gas sector. Furthermore, he pointed out numerous investment opportunities for developing and expanding the partnership between the petroleum sector and BP in the Mediterranean. These production-focused programmes rely on the expertise and human resources within the petroleum and gas sector, which are considered invaluable assets for achieving production increase targets. The minister reiterated the sector's commitment to providing all necessary means and resources to support personnel implementing work plans on the ground. This commitment ensures production growth and energy supply for the country and the Egyptian economy. Regarding exploration, Badawi stated: "Drilling new wells in the West Nile Delta area is part of an extensive work plan. We aim to explore and discover natural gas in BP's operating and concession areas in the Mediterranean Sea. This includes drilling the exploratory well (King-2) in the North King Mariout area, demonstrating our commitment to expanding exploration and gas discovery in new regions under our responsibility. Additionally, the exploratory well (Fayoum-5) will be drilled in the West Nile Delta fields to explore new gas-bearing layers within the existing gas fields." The West Nile Delta project includes production facilities with long underwater connection lines extending to the shore. The onshore gas processing plant for the Raven Field is also located there.
