Local unrest delays British Gas production

Political and social unrest in Egypt have reflected on the production of international energy company British Gas (BG), which has announced delays in its 2014 production targets.

In an official statement released on 9 September, the company said: “Due to the ongoing political and social instability in Egypt, phase 9a of West Delta Deep Marine has suffered delays, resulting in initial production commencing later than expected in 2014, provided no further disruption is caused to the programme.”

The gas giant, which also suffered from a four-month delay in Norway for unstated reasons, added that it anticipated “the combined impact from Egypt and Norway in 2014 will be a reduction of approximately 30,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day [boed].”

The company affirmed that 2015 production goals remain unchanged between 775,000 and 825,000 boed, but this goal is dependent on the recovery of natural gas prices in the United States and future events in Egypt.

Meanwhile, several oil and gas companies have successfully discovered new gas fields, including British Petroleum (BP) Egypt, which announced new discovery at the Salamat well, the first well in the North Damietta Offshore Concession granted in February 2010 and operated by BP, on 7 September.

“The wire longs, fluid samples and pressure data confirmed the presence of gas and condensate in 38m net of Oligocene sands in Salamat,” BP said in a statement.

Private sector gas company Dana Gas also announced on 27 August that it has achieved the highest production level for the company in the country in two years, with 200 million standard cubic feet per day, the equivalent of 41,500 boed and including over 8,000 boed of associated liquids.

“Egypt remains a core part of our long-term strategy and we remain committed to enhancing production and developing our assets in Egypt,” said Patrick Allman-Ward, the general manager and incoming group CEO.