Dana Gas kicks off Egyptian drilling campaign
SHARJAH, UAE -- Dana Gas has commenced drilling the Balsam-2 development well in the Balsam Development lease, onshore the Nile delta, the company announced Sunday.
The Balsam-2 well is being drilled with Egyptian Drilling Company’s Rig #48 and targets the Qawasim formation at a depth of 3,200 m. A slanted and fully cored pilot hole will be drilled through the Qawasim reservoir, and it will be followed by the drilling of a 700 m horizontal section.
The well will be the first horizontal well drilled by Dana Gas Egypt, and one of very few drilled in the onshore Nile Delta to date. The well is expected to take about four months to drill and complete.
Balsam-2 is the first in a major drilling campaign of some 30 wells and a large number of work-overs that will be drilled in the next 3 years and forms part of the Gas Production Enhancement Agreement (GPEA) work commitment.
In this agreement, Dana Gas has committed to a work program in return for the ability to sell the government’s share of incremental condensate production at market rates over and above an agreed no further action decline production forecast.
This mechanism is expected to effectively eliminate the receivables balance by the end of 2018, assuming that no further bullet payments are made to the petroleum sector by the Egyptian government.
Dr. Mark Fenton, general manager of Dana Gas Egypt, said, “We are very happy to be commencing our drilling operations as part of the GPEA. It represents the culmination of many months of preparation work and planning to assemble the portfolio of targets for drilling in conjunction with preparing our infrastructure to receive this additional gas and condensate. We are particularly proud to be extending our technical capabilities to include the drilling of horizontal wells. Balsam-2 is the company’s first horizontal well in Egypt and is a fitting well to kick off this drilling campaign, which effectively targets to develop all the company’s remaining conventional 2P gas reserves.”
