A US-based oil exploration company has found up to 7,000 barrels of oil a day in a deep well in Egypt's Western Desert
Egyptian state news agency MENA about the discovery. It said that Oil Minister Sameh Fahmy had received word of the find in a meeting with Mahmoud Dabbous, head of US-based oil firm IPR, but gave few details.
The well, named Zain 1, had a depth of 17,000 feet in a layer of earth dating to the Jurassic era in IPR's concession area, 130km southwest of the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria.
IPR had also recently made an oil find in its Ramadan 1 well in the Gulf of Suez of roughly 3,000 barrels of crude and 1.5 million cubic feet of natural gas daily. It found a smaller amount of oil in its nearby Ramadan 2 well.
Egypt has proven crude oil and condensate reserves of around 4.189 billion barrels, and natural gas reserves of around 76 trillion cubic feet. It is a major natural gas exporter, both by pipeline through Jordan and in liquefied form by ship.
Author:
Ksenia Kochneva
