Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources announced on Friday positive results from the drilling of the Nessim-1X natural gas exploration well in the Temsah concession in the Mediterranean Sea, with preliminary estimates indicating around 200 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas in the reservoir.
Initial drilling and evaluation results identified a gas-bearing layer with promising petrophysical properties, including a net pay thickness of approximately 15 metres in true vertical depth.
The ministry said further technical and reservoir studies are underway to assess the recoverable reserves and the well’s production potential. The findings will help determine the next steps towards developing the discovery and bringing it into production.
The Nessim-1X well islocated in the Temsah concession, where Italian energy company Eni serves as the main operator alongside Australian company Woodside.
Petrobel, the operating company, carried out the drilling on behalf of the partners.
The ministry said the discovery comes amid increased exploration activity across Egypt’s concession areas, supported by an improving investment climate in the oil and gas sector and the settlement of outstanding payments to investment partners.
These developments, it added, are helping strengthen international companies’ confidence and encourage further investment in exploration for new oil and gas resources.
Plans are underway to connect the well to existing production facilities through a pipeline approximately 22 kilometres long, linking it to the Abu Madi–El Gamil pipeline.
Using existing infrastructure is expected to reduce the time needed to bring the discovery into production and support Egypt’s domestic natural gas output.
Further assessments will determine the volume of recoverable reserves and the well’s expected production capacity before a development and production plan is finalised.
