Apache plans to invest $100 million in horizontal drilling of 20 wells in the Apollonia field located in the Egyptian Western Desert so as to produce around 40Mmcf/d of gas from limestone. The US energy company intends to advance with the investments once trails on vertical wells prove successful.

According to Khalda Petroleum’s CEO, Mohamed Abdel Azzim, Apache and Shell, together with the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC), have entered into an agreement to explore for gas from the limestone in Apollonia in the Western Desert.
Azzim noted that the company so far has expended $24 million on exploration and testing for the drilling of 3 vertical wells and linking them to facilities. In addition, the company is at present getting ready for the second well with hydraulic fracturing technology to be brought online by early January 2017.

Apache before now had completed the drilling of 2 horizontal wells with total investments at $7million. The aim of these wells was to take samples to study the nature of the tank which will assist in determining the suitable drilling and hydraulic fracturing programs. Furthermore, the company drilled 2 vertical wells in Apollonia with investments worth $14m.

Khalda Petroleum finished the drilling of the first vertical well in July 2016 with a production capacity 6.5mcf/d of gas. The well’s production increased to 680mcf/d of gas in October this year as a result of the usage of the hydraulic fracturing technology, Egypt Oil & Gas reports.

Anita Fatunji