Cheiron Energy, the largest independent Egyptian oil and gas E&P company, announced the commencement of the Early Production Facility (“EPF”) for the GNN oil field in the Gulf of Suez has been brought on stream.
The GNN field is located in the Geisum and Tawila West Concession, in which Cheiron (through its PICO GOS affiliate) holds a 60 per cent working interest and Operatorship, with Kufpec holding the remaining 40 per cent interest.
The EPF has been installed in the central area of the field and includes a conductor support platform, a mobile offshore production unit and a 10-inch oil export pipeline, tied back to the existing Geisum Star production complex.
The first well to come on stream across the EPF was GNN-6, which is currently producing circa 4,200 bopd. This well will be followed by the completion of two additional predrilled wells, GNN-3 and GNN-8, over the next few weeks and, subsequently, up to 4 additional wells will be drilled from the facilities a seagull flying in front of an offshore oil production platform.
To date, the southern area of the field has been appraised and developed using extended reach drilling techniques, which enabled the completion of 3 production wells from the existing Geisum field GD platform, with a further well currently being drilled from the platform.
When this phase of the GNN development activity has been completed it is anticipated that the gross oil production rate from the Concession will exceed 25 thousand bopd.
The GNN field, which is estimated to hold over 300 MMbbls of oil in place, was discovered by Cheiron in 2019. The discovery came after the implementation of an extensive, multi-year exploration and development campaign by Cheiron and its partners and was the first to be made in the Nukhul formation in the Geisum Concession. The oil find demonstrated the significant remaining exploration potential of the region, despite the Gulf of Suez being a relatively mature hydrocarbon province.
Meanwhile, the installation of the new EPF was accomplished with the support and guidance of the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources and reflects the efforts of many stakeholders in the development, including the Petro Gulf Misr Joint Operating Company, Ganope, EGPC, Kufpec and key contractors such as PPIS, PMS and Petrojet.