Meeting rising gas demand

Egypt benefits from a sizable supply of natural resources, including gas reserves that place it amongst the top three producers on the African continent. While a steep rise in domestic demand has increased pressure on producers, prompting a rethink in how the country uses its gas, new gas finds and temporary gas imports will help alleviate concerns.

On October 8, German energy firm RWE announced a gas find at its Disouq block in the heart of Egypt’s Nile Delta. In a statement, the company “confirmed a further extension of the South Sidi Ghazy-1x discovery,” adding that “the latest development well follows the successful appraisal of the North Sidi Ghazy-1x discovery reported in August 2012”.

RWE’s local subsidiary, RWE Dea Egypt, plans to start production on the 5375-sq-km onshore Disouq block next year, having been awarded the concession in 2004. It has already made several discoveries and is working on developing the field.

In August, BP Egypt, the Egyptian branch of the UK-based oil major, announced that it had discovered gas at Taurt North and Seth South, in the North El Burg Offshore Concession, Nile Delta. This takes the number of BP discoveries in the concession to five, and BP said that it was considering options for connecting the new finds to existing infrastructure.

The North El Burg concession, in waters 60m-100m deep, was awarded to BP in 2005 and is being developed in a joint venture with the International Egyptian Oil Company (IEOC), a subsidiary of Italian state monopoly Eni. BP has interests in 11 offshore blocks in the Delta region, and operates six.