Kuwait Energy and its partners have started drilling the ASD-1X exploration well at the Abu Sennan licence in Egypt, project participant United Oil & Gas reported on March 8.

Drilling commenced on March 6 and should take 60 days to complete. The vertical well some 12 km north-east of the producing Al Jahraa field will primarily target the Abu Roash C and E sandstone reservoirs, with the Abu Roash G reservoir serving as a secondary target. These reservoirs are expected to be encountered at depths of between 3,000 and 3,500 m.

ASD-1X is the second well to be drilled in the 2021 Abu Sennan campaign, funded entirely from operational cashflow, United said. The previous ASH-3 development well was completed well ahead of schedule and under-budget by the E-50 rig, which is also working on ASD-1X. If successful, ASD-1X can be brought into production rapidly using existing infrastructure.

Kuwait Energy has a 25% operating interest in Abu Sennan while United has 22%, Global Connect has 25% and Dover Investment has 28%. The group have now agreed to drill a third well at the site this year, the AJ-8 development well. AJ-8 was due to be sunk last year but the work was deferred because of lower oil prices. It will target the Abu Roash and Bahariya reservoirs in an undrained area of the Al Jahraa field.

"There is considerable exploration potential in the Abu Sennan licence, and it is great to be actively drilling wells to unlock that potential," United CEO Brian Larkin commented. "The improving oil price environment of recent months has significantly enhanced operational cashflows and improved the economics of additional development wells so it is also very pleasing to have confirmation of the drilling of the AJ-8 development well immediately after completion of ASD-1X."

In December the Abu Sennan partners completed and commissioned a new gas pipeline at the site, increasing gas recovery rates.