Oil and Gas Prospects in Egypt

Abstract

Accumulations of oil were first known in Egypt since 1968, some ten years after the famous Drake well in Pennsylvania in August 1859. These oil accumulation were found as seepages in tunnels dug for extracting sulphur in the area of Gemsa on the West coast of the Gulf of Suez. Since that time exploration activites were conducted on and off throughout a long history of operations which witnessed the use of the latest developments in exploration tools and techniques. So far, the main oil province in Egypt is the Gulf of Suez Basin, where the bulk of oil reserve have been found. Other hydrocarbon provinces are the Nile Delta Basin, the Abu Gharadig Basin and the Alamein ridge, both in the Western Desert. Three important gas discoveries were made in the Nile Delta Basin two of which are offshore, in addition to other so for non commercial gas finds. In addition to the known oil and gas discoveries the exploration activities throughout that long period contributed volumenous geological and geophysical material and data which added appreciably to the geology of Egypt at large, and in particular to the petroleum geology of the country. The Gulf of Suez oil province displayed very favourable conditions for the generation and trapping of hydrocarbons in Miocene and Pre-Miocene pools though at the same time it displayed very complicated geological setting which renders the exploration work a difficult task. The Nile Delta Basin, on the otherhand, is a relatively very recently explored area. Accordingly, extensive exploration work is still needed in order to evaluate the hydrocarbon possibilities of that basin. So for, gas has been discovered at a number of locations in lower Pliocene-Miocene pools. Whether future work would prove that oil generation took place remains to be seen. The Western Desert did not yet display the required response with regards to the exploration work conducted till now. To date, only few small discoveries have been made with oil and gas pools mainly vvithin the Upper and Lower Cretaceous. Recent advances in seismic techniques are helping in locating deeper structures, which might prove instrumental in the upgrading of the oil possibilites of the region. At present, the exploration activities are going on in the different oil and gas provinces in Egypt. These activilles are expected to increase and are also expected to expand to new areas in the eastern part of the Gulf of Suez Basin, offshore and onland, in Northern Sinai and in the Offshore Mediterranean. These new areas are believed to house very good prospects which will be tested not before long. It is also hoped that progress in seismic tools and techniques will add to the possibilities of finding more oil and gas.