Apex International Energy has tested its Fajr-8 development well at 2,440 barrels per day of oil in Egypt’s Western Desert.
The company started producing from the well on May 8, within four days of releasing the well. The well found 98 feet of oil pay in the Bahariya formation sandstone.
PetroFarah operates the South East Meleiha (SEM) concession. It covers 1,713 square km.
This is a joint venture of Apex and the Egyptian General Petroleum Corp. (EGPC), which they established in April 2021.
The Fajr-8 is the fifth producing well on the Fajr field since March 2021. Total SEM production is expected to increase from 4,300 bpd currently to more than 6,000 bpd this week. All the wells are producing from a depth of less than 5,000 feet.
“PetroFarah’s rapid development of the three new field discoveries made by Apex in 2021 is a testament to the strong relationship and sense of urgency we share with EGPC to increase Apex’s and Egypt’s oil production,” said Apex’s founder and chairman Roger Plank.
Apex president and CEO Tom Maher said a second rig would start up on the licence this month. There are “”numerous drilling locations”, he said, and “we look forward to continued development success”.
There are a number of “other exploration prospects and leads across SEM and the neighbouring East Siwa block”. Apex and Eni’s IEOC won the latter area in the 2021 bid round, held by EGPC.
Both Maher and Plank previously worked at Apache, a long-time Egypt heavyweight. Bluewater, a private equity company, owns Apex.
Apex drilled a discovery on the SEM concession in January 2021. The SEMZ-11X was drilled to a depth of 5,700 feet and found 65 feet of oil pay. Testing of the Bahariya formation reached a peak flow of 2,100 bpd.