Al Wasl Field Activation: Dragon Oil's Milestone in Egyptian Oil Production

Dragon Oil, wholly owned by the Dubai Government, began the New Year by commencing the production of crude oil from the Al Wasl field (North Safa), which is the company’s first oil discovery in the Arab Republic of Egypt.

The operation of the Al Wasl offshore platform came after the successful implementation of the first phase of the early production project for the “Al Wasl” field, and following the completion of the evaluation operations of the well south of Belayim 293-5A, it was put on production at an initial rate of 3,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

The Al Wasl field, “North Safa”, which was discovered in 2021 by Dragon Oil, is the largest oil discovery in the Gulf of Suez region during the last twenty years, with an oil reserve exceeding 95 million barrels at the very least, which prompted the company to adopt an ambitious project for early production with a total investment of $200 million.

In a statement today, the company said that the project includes establishing a new offshore production platform and carrying out measures such as extending a production line and an electricity line to operate oil production pumps, in addition to a water injection project, in order to maintain high production rates and achieve the highest development rates for existing reserves.

The statement added that Dragon Oil intends to complete the development work of the Al Wasl field as soon as possible, by connecting the second well south of Belayim 293-6 with the production line during the middle of this January, in order to raise the production capacity to 3,000 barrels of crude oil per day, thus increasing the platform’s production to 6,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

According to the plan agreed upon with the Egyptian authorities, Dragon Oil will drill 7 new wells during the next two years, aiming to reach 15,000 barrels per day of crude oil production from the Al Wasl field.

The statement indicated that the success of this project is a confirmation of Dragon Oil’s efforts and its keenness to provide all support to implement and complete the project despite the challenges facing the global economy.

It was underlined that Dragon Oil is keen to use the latest environmentally friendly production technologies during implementation processes, in compliance with the goals of sustainable development, implementing environmental sanitation processes and reducing carbon emissions.

Dragon Oil stressed that the huge Al-Wasl project embodies the company's keenness to support the Egyptian economy, and its readiness to complete the path of growth and expansion in the Egyptian market during the current year, by intensifying exploration and expansion in several regions, developing fields, and repairing wells to increase the production of Gulf of Suez oil fields.

Dragon Oil seeks to permanently expand the scope of petroleum discoveries in Egypt over long-term periods, especially that the Egyptian market is currently considered one of the most economically promising markets in the Middle East.

Hatem Mohamed / Tariq Al Fahaam