bp starts production from offshore egypt

BP Starts Production From Offshore Egypt

05-21-2008

BP started oil production from saqqara field and gas from Taurt field both in Egypt.

The Saqqara field, located offshore Egypt in the Gulf of Suez started yesterday with a capacity of 20,000 barrels a day, which will reach 30,000 barrels in few weeks. Taurt, located in the Mediterranean Sea off Egypt's coast, will soon deliver 200 million cubic feet (5.6 million cubic meters) of gas a day.

Gulf of Suez Petroleum Company, or Gupco, a joint venture between BP and state-run Egyptian General Petroleum Corp., operates the two fields. Saqqara, BP's biggest oil discovery in Egypt for almost 10 years, contains 55 million barrels of reserves and cost $400 million to develop.

Egypt produced about 600,000 barrels a day of crude oil last year, compared with a peak of 922,000 barrels a day in 1996. The country is seeking 700,000 barrels a day in 2008, thanks to the development of Saqqara and other fields including one operated by Vegas Oil & Gas of Greece in the Western Desert.

The country's natural-gas reserves have doubled in six years to 72.3 trillion cubic feet, according to government figures. Egypt is second only to Algeria in gas production in Africa. It aims to double exports of the fuel to 35 billion cubic meters a year in 2012, from 17 billion cubic meters now, with help from companies including BP, Eni SpA and BG Group Plc.