BP makes third gas discovery in North Damietta Concession, East Nile Delta, Egypt | Presse

Date: 27 mars 2017

CAIRO -- BP announced today another gas discovery in the North Damietta Offshore Concession in the East Nile Delta, Egypt. The Qattameya Shallow-1 exploration well was drilled to a total depth of 1,961 metres in water depth of approximately 108 metres using the El Qaher II jack-up rig. The wireline logs, pressure data and fluid samples confirmed the presence of 37 metres of net gas pay in high quality Pliocene sandstones. Options to tie the discovery back to nearby infrastructure are being studied.

Bob Dudley, BP Group Chief Executive, commented: “Qattameya marks our third discovery in the block where we are already developing the Atoll field and appraising the Salamat discovery. This latest discovery confirms our belief that the Nile Delta is a world-class basin.”

Commenting on the discovery, Hesham Mekawi, BP North Africa Regional President, said: “We are delighted to sustain our success in these shallow Pliocene targets. We believe development of Qattameya could help unlock the resources in other nearby discoveries with similar shallow low pressure characteristics. This is part of our long-standing commitment to Egypt and to unlocking Egypt’s energy potential.”

Qattameya Shallow-1 well is located 60 kilometres north of Damietta city, 30 kilometres south west of Salamat and only 35 kilometres to the west of Ha’py offshore facilities. BP has 100% equity in the discovery.

Notes to editors

BP has a long and successful track record in Egypt stretching back almost 55 years with investments close to $30 billion, making BP one of the largest foreign investors in the country. In Egypt, BP’s business is primarily in oil and gas exploration and production. BP is working to meet Egypt’s domestic market growth by actively exploring in the Nile Delta and investing to add production from existing discoveries.
To date, BP Egypt, in collaboration with the Gulf of Suez Petroleum Company (GUPCO), BP’s joint venture (JV) Company with the Egyptian General Petroleum Company (EGPC), has produced almost 40% of Egypt’s entire oil production, and currently produces almost 10% of Egypt’s annual oil and condensate.
In addition, through joint ventures with EGPC/EGAS and IEOC (ENI), the Pharaonic Petroleum Company (PhPC) and Petrobel, BP currently produces close to 40% of Egypt's total gas.
The West Nile Delta (WND) project is a strategic project for BP. BP is the operator of the West Nile Delta (WND) Project with 82.75 per cent equity in the project partnership.
Another important project for BP is the Atoll project. PhPC is the joint venture which is executing the project. The Atoll project involves the development of 1.5 trillion cubic feet of gas resources and 31 million barrels of condensate. Production from Atoll is expected to be around 0.3 billion cubic feet per day. All the produced gas will be fed into the country’s national gas grid.
BP acquired a 10% stake from ENI with an option to purchase an additional 5% in the Shorouk Concession where the giant Zohr gas filed was discovered.
BP has made a series of discoveries in Egypt in recent years including Taurt North, Seth South and Salmon and Rahamat, Satis, Hodoa, Notus, Salamat and Atoll.
BP is a 33 % shareholder of a natural gas liquids (NGL) plant extracting LPG and propane, through United Gas Derivatives Company (UGDC) in partnership with ENI/IEOC and GASCO (the Egyptian midstream gas distribution company).
BP is also present in the downstream sector through Natural Gas Vehicles Company (NGVC, BP 40 %) which was established in September 1995 as the first company in Africa and the Middle East to commercialize natural gas as an alternative fuel for vehicles.

Further information

BP Egypt office: +202 267 33333

BP press office, London: +44 (0)20 7496 4708, bppress@bp.com

Cautionary statement

In order to utilize the ‘safe harbor’ provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the ‘PSLRA’), BP is providing the following cautionary statement.

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements concerning BP’s belief that development of Qattameya could help unlock other resources; and expectations regarding gas and condensate resources, production from Atoll and the destination of produced gas. Actual results may differ from those expressed in such statements, depending on a variety of factors including changes in public expectations and other changes to business conditions; the timing, quantum and nature of divestments; the receipt of relevant third-party and/or regulatory approvals; future levels of industry product supply; demand and pricing; OPEC quota restrictions; PSA effects; operational problems; regulatory or legal actions; economic and financial conditions generally or in various countries and regions; political stability and economic growth in relevant areas of the world; changes in laws and governmental regulations; exchange rate fluctuations; development and use of new technology; the success or otherwise of partnering; the actions of competitors, trading partners and others; natural disasters and adverse weather conditions; wars and acts of terrorism, cyber-attacks or sabotage; and other factors discussed under “Principal risks and uncertainties” in our Stock Exchange Announcement for the period ended 30 June 2016 and under "Risk factors" in our Annual Report and Form 20-F 2015.

This press release contains references to non-proved resources and production outlooks based on non-proved resources that the SEC's rules prohibit us from including in our filings with the SEC. U.S. investors are urged to consider closely the disclosures in our Form 20-F, SEC File No. 1-06262. This form is available on our website at www.bp.com. You can also obtain this form from the SEC by calling 1-800-SEC-0330 or by logging on to their website at www.sec.gov.