Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum announced on Wednesday that it has confirmed the discovery of at least 8 million barrels of oil in the Crystal 1 well east of the Gulf of Suez. The discovery well was drilled by Dragon Oil of the UAE through the Gulf of Suez Petroleum Company (GUPCO).
The eastern Crystal-1 well was drilled by Dragon Oil, a subsidiary of the Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC). Drilling is being carried out by a joint venture company called GUPCO.
The ministry said the discovery is in line with the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources’ strategy to increase local oil and gas production and reduce import costs. Initial tests in the 16-meter-thick Hawara formation indicate that more than 2,000 barrels of oil can be produced per day. The agency said the honey core layer is more than 30 meters thick and has not yet been tested.
The parent company confirmed that it has confirmed preliminary estimates of around 8 million barrels of production from new wells in the Gulf of Suez Integrated Concession, and expects that this level could be exceeded.
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GUPCO plans to drill two more wells to further develop the exploration, which is expected to increase daily oil production by more than 5,000 barrels.
The East Crystal-1 well is the second exploration well to be successfully drilled using a new exploration technology called Ocean Bottom Node (OBN) seismic exploration. The first is the good one, S.El-Wasl-1.
Dragon Oil completed the purchase of BP’s stake in the GUPCO deal in 2020.