The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources has announced the successful completion of drilling operations for two new wells at the Raven gas field in the Mediterranean Sea by BP. The operations, carried out with the drilling vessel Valaris DS-12, began in the second half of 2024. Currently, offshore installation work is underway to connect the wells to the existing production networks, with production set to begin in February 2025, three months ahead of schedule thanks to an expedited drilling and installation plan. Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Karim Badawi, visited the Valaris DS-12 drilling vessel on 20 July 2024, to inspect the progress of drilling operations alongside senior officials from the petroleum sector. Following the successful drilling completion at the Raven field, the Valaris DS-12 has moved to the King area, where BP will begin exploratory drilling for natural gas in the lower Miocene layer. The exploration is expected to reach the reservoir by the end of February 2025. The King area is strategically located near BP's offshore facilities and pipelines within the West Nile Delta project. If successful, the new well will be connected to existing production infrastructure, adding new gas volumes to support Egypt's strategy of boosting local GDP. This exploratory drilling in the King area is part of the Ministry's broader initiative to enhance offshore drilling activities in the Mediterranean Sea. The region has seen increasing exploration activity, with Chevron starting operations at the Khanjar-1 well in the western Mediterranean, ExxonMobil drilling the Nefertari-1 well, BP successfully completing development drilling at the Raven field, and Eni resuming operations in the Zohr field earlier this month.
