Dragon Oil, a company owned by the Dubai government, began the new year by producing crude oil from the Al Wasl field (North Safa) in Egypt. The Al Wasl field is the company’s first oil discovery in Egypt.
Al Wasl field
The operation of the Al Wasl offshore platform came after the successful implementation of the first phase of the early production project for the Al Wasl field. It started following the completion of the evaluation operations of the well south of Belayim 293-5A. Production in the Al Wasl field commenced at an initial rate of 3,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
The Al Wasl field (North Safa) was discovered by Dragon Oil in 2021 and is the largest oil discovery in the Gulf of the Suez region in the past twenty years. The oil reserves exceed 95 million barrels at the very least. This prompted the company to adopt an ambitious early production project with a total investment of $200 million.
Offshore production platform
The company said in a statement today that the project includes establishing a new offshore production platform. Moreover, it will be implementing measures such as extending a production line and an electricity line to operate oil production pumps. In addition, it will build a water injection project to maintain high production rates and achieve the highest development rates for existing reserves.
The statement added that Dragon Oil intends to complete the Al Wasl field’s development as soon as possible. That is through connecting the second well south of Belayim 293-6 to the production line in mid-January. In turn, this will raise production capacity to 3,000 barrels of crude oil per day, thus increasing the platform’s production to 6,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
Seven new wells
According to the plan with the Egyptian authorities, Dragon Oil will drill 7 new wells in the next two years. Thus, it aims to reach a production level of 15 thousand barrels per day from Al Wasl field.
The statement indicated that this project’s success confirms Dragon Oil’s efforts and its keenness to support the project. Hence, Dragon Oil’s goal is to provide support, implement, and complete the project despite the challenges facing the global economy.
Notably, Dragon Oil Company is keen on using the latest environmentally friendly production technologies during the implementation processes. This falls in line with sustainable development goals, implementing environmental sanitation processes, and reducing carbon emissions.
Read: Oil market in 2024: Increased demand, dynamic supply sources
Intensifying exploration
Dragon Oil said that the Al Wasl project embodies the company’s keenness to support the Egyptian economy. It is ready to complete the path of growth and expansion in the Egyptian market this year. This it intends to do by intensifying exploration and expansion operations in several regions, developing fields, and repairing wells to increase the production of the Gulf of Suez oil fields.
Moreover, Dragon Oil seeks to permanently expand the scope of petroleum discoveries in Egypt in the long term. Hence, the Egyptian market is currently one of the most economically promising markets in the Middle East.
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