Energean Oil & Gas has appointed Medhat Tarakhan as country general manager in Egypt, the company said in a news release.

Tarakhan is a reservoir characterization specialist and an AAPG certified professional petroleum geologist who has spent more than 30 years in exploration and oilfield development as well as in oilfield techno-commercial studies and regional business development, the release said.

He has worked for BP, Repsol, Schlumberger, Halliburton, Madison PetroGas, Kuwait Energy, PGNiG and Rayton on projects that have led to more than 58 commercial oil discoveries in the Middle East and Africa, the release said. Among these is Kom Ombo, the area which Energean is exploring.

In addition, Energean has appointed AGS-Afro to conduct a 2-D seismic survey in the West Kom Ombo concession area, relating to the company’s new $6 million investment program in Egypt. The survey will start in December and acquire 400 km of 2-D seismic data ahead of the drilling of two new wells in the summer 2016.

The West Kom Ombo block is located at the South Central Dessert in Upper Egypt and has a geological structure similar to the neighboring Al Baraka oil field. The block is in the second exploration phase and covers an area of 20,948 sq km.

At the start of the second exploration period, Energean said it acquired a block-wide high resolution aeromagnetic survey. The company acquired 700 km of 2D seismic during the first exploration period, bringing the total coverage on the block to 1,600 km.

Energean Oil & Gas is the operator and holds a 60% interest in the West Kom Ombo exploration and exploitation license.