Two new wells in Egypt's Western Desert encountered oil and gas in the Faghur Basin and on concessions acquired in 2010, said Apache Corp.

A production test of the Cretaceous Alam El Buieb (AEB) sand in the Tayim South 1-X well in the Faghur Basin flowed at a rate of 8,196 barrels of oil per day (b/d).

The Lower Bahariya formation in the AG-90 development well in the Abu Gharadig field, which was acquired in 2010, flowed 7,614 b/d and 1.5 million cubic feet of natural gas per day (MMcf/d) during a completion test.

The Tayim South 1-X well is the latest in a series of discoveries in the Faghur Basin based on Apache's interpretation of recently acquired 3-D seismic surveys across several of its concession areas.  The well is the highest-oil-rate completion Apache has tested since it began operating in the Western Desert in 1996.

"The Tayim South discovery is located along a prominent east-west fault trend that stretches nearly 25 miles, all within Apache-operated concession boundaries, and includes productive intervals in the AEB, Safa and Paleozoic formations," said Tom Voytovich, vice president, Apache's Egypt Region. "We have drilled 13 exploratory tests along this trend during 2011, 11 of which were discoveries. We are planning five additional tests before year-end."

"The AG-90 well was drilled as part of an aggressive campaign to develop oil reserves in the Abu Roash and Bahariya formations in the Abu Gharadig field," said Voytovich.

The latest well encountered 189 ft (57.3 m) of pay in six separate zones. It was completed from a total 84 net ft (25.5 m) of oil pay in the Lower Bahariya and is currently producing 5,200 b/d and 5.0 MMcf/d of gas.

"We believe there is a good opportunity to leverage existing processing and transportation infrastructure to maximize efficiency at the Abu Gharadig field complex," Voytovich said.