Eni boosts output, finds more oil in Egypt's Western Desert

London — Eni has raised oil production from Egypt's South West Meleiha concession to over 12,000 b/d after bringing on stream a new exploration well on the block, the Italian oil major said July 28.

Exploration well SWM-A-6X -- drilled in the Western Desert's Faghur basin -- hit 130 feet of net oil pay after reaching a total depth of 15,800 feet. The well is already connected to the production network and pumping around 5,000 b/d, Eni said.

Eni said the well also discovered new oil resources but gave no estimate of the scale of the find or the block's estimated reserves.

Oil production from the South West Meleiha concession began in July 2019 and in just one year has ramped up to 12,000 b/d thanks to the contribution of new discoveries.

"Eni is successfully implementing its near-field exploration strategy in the Egyptian Western Desert through AGIBA, a joint venture with the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation, quickly turning on production of the newly discovered resources," Eni said in a statement.

Present in Egypt since 1954, Eni is the country's largest oil and producer with equity production currently above 300,000 b/d of oil equivalent. The company expects further increases on the back of higher production from the Zohr deepwater gas field, in which it holds a 50% stake, and the start of production from the Baltim South West gas fields in the Nooros shallow-water area off the Nile Delta.

Eni's proved oil and gas reserves in Egypt stood at 1.23 billion boe at the end of last year, of which liquids amounted to 264 million barrels.

Separately, Eni said it had successfully tested its latest shallow-water Egyptian gas discovery, which is likely to be relatively easy to commercialize, as companies remain upbeat about demand for East Mediterranean gas.

Eni had announced in early July the discovery at the Bashrush prospect of the North El Hammad license, which lies offshore the Nile Delta, west of the producing Nooros and Baltim South West fields.