Oil discovered in Egypt's Gulf of Suez

Initial, sustained production at Al Amir well is over 3,000 barrels of crude/day; natural gas also found.

oil derrick 224 (photo credit: )
oil derrick 224
(photo credit: )
Circle Oil and Premier Oil said Friday that they have struck oil in their onshore North West Gemsa Concession in Egypt. Initial, sustained production was over 3,000 barrels per day of crude and 4 million standard cubic feet per day of natural gas, the United Kingdom-based oil and gas producers said. The concession lies southeast of Cairo in the Gulf of Suez Basin. "This discovery is excellent news," Circle Chief Executive Officer David Hough said in a statement. He noted that it comes on the heels of the company's gas production start-up in Morocco. Hough said the discovery gives them the option of bringing the concession's Al Amir SE-1 ST well, into production quickly and "will also allow us to carry out our ambitious plan to drill 15 wells over the next 24 months" on its North African licenses. The Al Amir well had previously been sidetracked due to operational difficulties. Circle, with operations in Morocco, Namibia, Oman, Panama and Tunisia, holds a 40 percent interest in the North West Gemsa Concession while Premier, with operations in the North Sea, Africa, Asia and the Middle East, holds a 10 percent stake. Vegas Oil and Gas, a privately-held Greek firm, holds the remaining 50 percent stake. Egypt produces about 665,000 barrels of oil per day and about 1.9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas