SDX Energy has made a heavy oil discovery at its Rabul-3 well in Egypt, with plans to bring this into production later this month.
Flow from the well, in the West Gharib concession, should average 300 barrels per day, at the high end of its previous expectations. Output from the Meseda field, in the West Gharib licence, will be lower this year than last despite the find.
The well was drilled to a depth of 5,129 feet (1,563 metres) and found 116 feet (35 metres) of net heavy oil pay in the Yusr and Bakr formations. Average porosity is 21% in these reservoirs.
“We are very pleased to announce this latest result in our low cost Meseda/Rabul area, which, thanks to its close proximity to existing infrastructure, will be contributing to cashflow in the coming weeks,” said SDX’s CEO Mark Reid.
SDX has a 50% working interest in the licence, and is joint operator, Dublin International Petroleum has the remaining 50%.
The well would help the company meet its 2020 production guidance of 3,200-3,300 bpd for the Meseda field, he said. Production in 2019 from Meseda was 4,180 bpd. The company is also working on two wells in Egypt’s South Disouq licence, with results due in April and June.
Production from the well will be connected to the central processing facilities (CPF) at Meseda.
Reid went on to defend the company’s economics, saying that 80% of its forecast cash flow in 2020, and 90% in 2021, would come from its fixed price gas business in Egypt and Morocco. “Accordingly we remain strongly positioned to weather the current fall in oil prices.”