BP preparing to drill El Basant South 1 exploration block in the El Matariya Onshore exploration block, Nile Delta. Â The primary objectives in the area are the Miocene sands.  The well will be drilled south of the Dana Gasâ El Basant gas and condensate field that was discovered in 2008 by Centurion Petroleum and started producing in 2009 from the Qawasim Formation. The El Basant field is a part of the same gas accumulation as the Abu Zahra Northeast field on a neighboring concession and a commercial arrangement had been put in place between the two owners to allow Melrose to produce the field until its share of the reserves had been depleted.  BP operates the El Matariya Onshore block with a 50% interest, while Dana Gas holds the remining 50%.  The El Matariya Onshore Concession Area is located onshore Nile Delta adjacent to Dana Gasâs existing West El Manzala and West El Qantara Development Leases and the recently acquired North El Salhiya (Block 1) Concession Area.     Background information  On 29 December 2008, Dana Gas PJSC found gas in El Basant 2 outpost in the West Manzala exploration block after encountering 37m of net sand pay with good porosity and permeability in the Messinian Qawasim Formation. The well, located 1.5km northeast of the El Basant 1 gas discovery (previously known as Al Tawil 1), was spudded on 6 December 2008 and drilled to TD of 3,050m.   On 2 June 2015, Dana Gas announced that it had finalized an agreement with BP for the drilling of an exploration well in the onshore El Matariya (Block 3), Nile Delta. Under the terms of the agreement, BP as the operator will carry Dana Gas for its 50% share of the cost of the well, subject to an agreed cap of USD 39 million.  In Early March 2017, BP abandoned Mocha 1 wildcat in the onshore El Matariya (Block 3), Nile Delta after encountering non-commercial quantities of gas in the Oligocene, which was the target. The well was spudded in early May 2016 and drilled to a TD of 5,940 m. It has the Oligocene layer as the objective and a planned TD at around 6,000 m. Wet gas was encountered in the Messinian layer during drilling.  In early February 2018, BP abandoned the Khairat Downthrown 1 (Jd 64-7) exploration well in the onshore El Matariya (Block 3), Nile Delta after the well penetrated a good Messinian reservoir interval but was water wet. The well was spudded on 31 December 2017 with the âEDC-9â land rig and drilled to a TD around 3,300 m. It has objectives in the Miocene layer and a planned TD of 3,306 m.  In April 2018, BP suspended the Nafahat West 1 wildcat in the onshore El Matariya block (Block 3), Nile Delta basin. The well was spudded on 26 February 2018 with the âEDC-9â land rig. It has the Messinian sands as the objective and a planned TD of 3,500 m.
Egypt (Kattaniya-Qantara High - Nile Delta B.) Qantara