Egypt's Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources and US energy major Chevron announced Saturday positive results from drilling the Nargis-2 natural gas well in the Mediterranean Sea, which began in May in cooperation with Chevron, its partners and the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS). In a statement, the ministry said the results support ongoing efforts to appraise the Nargis discovery, made in 2022, and accelerate its commercial development as one of Egypt's undeveloped gas discoveries. The Nargis-2 appraisal well confirmed the extension of gas-bearing reservoirs previously encountered at Nargis-1 and identified an additional gas-bearing reservoir with favorable characteristics, supporting efforts to assess the area's gas resources and potential development opportunities. The ministry said drilling operations were designed to evaluate the extent of the Nargis discovery and test deeper geological formations as part of efforts to expand exploration activities and maximize the Mediterranean's promising potential, including high-pressure, high-temperature formations. The well reached a total depth of more than 5,000 meters, with appraisal results indicating gas-bearing reservoirs containing up to 35 meters of net pay. According to the statement, these findings provide a positive indication supporting further technical studies to determine the discovery's overall potential and assess development opportunities. The results align with the ministry's strategy to accelerate the development of undeveloped discoveries, encourage investment partners to intensify exploration activities and convert discovered resources into reserves that can be developed and brought into production, helping increase domestic natural gas output. Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawi witnessed the start of drilling operations at Nargis-2 in May aboard the Stena Forth drillship. At the time, he emphasized the importance of accelerating the appraisal and development of undeveloped gas discoveries and strengthening cooperation with international energy companies to capitalize on Egypt's promising oil and gas resources. Chevron operates the Nargis Offshore Concession in partnership with Italy's Eni, the UAE's Mubadala and Egypt's Tharwa Petroleum Company.
