By Akanimo Sampson
In Egypt, two local companies are tidying up plans to inject more than $1 billion to explore for oil and gas. Khalda Petroleum CO. (KPC) and Qarun Petroleum Company (QPC) have said they want to invest $830 million and $252 million respectively over the course of the 2021-2022 fiscal year in exploring Western Desert, Egypt.In operation since 1985, KPC is a joint venture company between Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) and Apache Corporation, and it is one of the largest oil & gas producers in the North African country.
On the other hand, QPC was established in 1995 as an operating company for EGPC, and the group consisting of Phoenix Resources Company of Qarun, Apache Oil Egypt Inc, and GNR Seagull.The investment in question will take effect from July this year.
During this period, Khalda Petroleum’s activities include drilling 87 wells, 35 of which are for exploration and 52 for development or production. This is expected to achieve an average daily production of approximately 130,000 barrels of crude oil and condensate and 630 million cubic feet of natural gas.Qarun Petroleum on the other hand envisages drilling of 24 development wells and 5 exploration wells to achieve an annual production capacity of around 9 million barrels of crude oil. These operations according to the company will continue at the same time as the implementation of a rehabilitation and maintenance plan for the said wells.In recent years, the exploitation of oil and gas resources from the Western Desert has been neglected by players in this particular niche due, among other things, to exorbitant financial costs.
According to Abdel Khaleq Faruq, the director of the Nile Center for Economic and Strategic Studies, many factors have hampered oil and gas exploration in the Western Desert region, including the fact that the region is full of mines left after World War I and WWII.
“This has made the exploration process difficult and expensive because some areas must be cleared before the actual drilling can be carried out,” commented Director Faruq.
