BP begins pumping gas from West Nile project

BP and its partners have begun producing gas from the first two fields of the West Nile Delta development in Egypt, eight months ahead of start-up schedule and under budget.

BP said commissioning of all nine wells of the development’s first two of the five fields and ramp up to stable operations has now been completed, with first gas exported in late March.

The project, which is being developed as two separate projects, is expected to reach up to almost 1.5bn cubic feet a day when it is fully onstream in 2019, equivalent to almost a third of Egypt’s current gas production.

The FTSE 100 company said the fields are producing more than 700m standard cubic feet of gas a day (mmscf/d) sales gas and 1000 barrels per day of condensate, which is 20% higher than the planned sales level.

West Nile and six other upstream projects coming into production this year are expected by BP to, when combined with other new projects from last year, are expected to provide BP with 500,000 barrels equivalent a day by the end of 2017.

“West Nile Delta is a strategic national project that will add significant gas production to the Egyptian market and is another example of BP’s commitment to Egypt. Our continuing investments in the country, including West Nile Delta, Atoll and our recent investment in Zohr, are laying the foundations for growth for BP in Egypt well into the future," BP chief executive Bob Dudley said.