El King well finds oil off Egypt
Apache Corp. discovered its fourth consecutive deepwater well on its 2.3-million-acre West Mediterranean concession offshore Egypt. The El King-1X found significant gas reserves in both the primary objective Miocene-age formation and the secondary Pliocene objective, and also the first Miocene deepwater oil in the Nile Delta.
The El King-1X is the company's 10th discovery in Egypt and 15th worldwide this year.
"The discovery is important in several respects," said G. Steven Farris, Apache's president and CEO. "It is the first deepwater Miocene oil discovery in the Nile Delta, confirming speculation by the industry's geoscientists that such a hydrocarbon system is present and invigorating the play's deepwater oil exploration; it tested rich gas in the Miocene's middle Abu Madi formation at 31 MMcf/d and 757 b/d of condensate, analogous to the shallow water Abu Qir field 30 mi to the east where ultimate recoveries are estimated at 53 MMbbl of condensate and 2.1 tcf of natural gas. With the success in the Miocene added to a substantial 291-ft uphole column in the Pliocene, El King-1X results get us well on our way to our 3 tcf reserve goal," Farris said.
Two tests were conducted in a 190-ft column in the Miocene's Abu Madi formation. The first, in an 8-ft interval between 7,738 ft and 7,746 ft, flowed at a maximum daily rate of 2,630 bbl and 1.2 MMcf/d of gas on a 20/64-in. choke with flowing wellhead pressure of 1,350 psi. The oil gravity measured at 32° API. The second test, in a 38-ft interval between 7,664 ft and 7,702 ft, flowed at 31 MMcf/d of gas and 757 b/d of condensate.
Located 28.5 mi offshore in 2,361 ft of water, the El King well is 11 mi southeast of the Abu Sir-1X discovery, 8 mi southeast of the Al Bahig-1X discovery, and 4 mi east of the El Max-1X discovery.
The fifth well in the series will evaluate correlative Miocene intervals at 11,000-ft. depths
Apache operates the El King-1X with a 55% contractor interest in the deepwater portion of the concession. RWE-Dea has a 35% interest, and BP holds 10%.
12/2/02