LONDON (Alliance News) - BP PLC on Thursday said it has made another "important gas discovery" at the Baltim South development lease in the East Nile Delta but said further work will be carried out to underpin the full resource potential of the find.
BP said the Baltim SW-1 exploration well offshore Egypt was drilled by Petrobel, a joint venture between BP's 50:50 partner on the block, Italy's Eni SpA, and state-owned Egyptian General Petroleum Corp, penetrating 62.0 metres of net gas pay in Messinian sandstones.
The London-listed oil major said the discovery is a new accumulation along the same trend of the Nooros field that was discovered in 2015, which is producing 65,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
"We are pleased with the results of the Baltim SW-1 well as it is the third discovery along the Nooros trend and confirms the great potential of the Messinian play and its significant upside in the area," said Hesham Mekawi, the regional president of BP's operations in North Africa.
"Our plan is to utilise existing infrastructure which will accelerate the development of the discovery, and expedite early production start-up," he added.
BP shares were down 1.6% to 370.55 pence per share on Thursday.
By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance
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