Apache Extends Drilling Success in Egypt's Faghur Basin

Published on Wednesday, 18 August 2010 10:16 Written by TradersHuddle Staff

Tests from two discoveries and appraisal well total 8,855 barrels of oil, 4.9 MMcf of gas per day

HOUSTON, Aug. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Apache Corporation (NYSE, Nasdaq: APA) today reported two new oil discoveries and a significant appraisal in the Faghur Basin in the far southwest of Egypt's Western Desert oil and gas province.

• The Pepi-1X, drilled approximately 6 miles (10 km) south of Apache's Phiops Field, test-flowed at 4,216 barrels of oil and 4.9 million cubic feet (MMcf) of gas per day from a 68-foot gross interval in the Lower Safa formation.
• The Buchis South-1X, also about 6 miles south of Phiops, logged 131 feet of pay in several Cretaceous zones, including the Kharita and Alam El Buieb (AEB) sands. A test in one AEB zone flowed 1,647 barrels of oil per day.
• The Faghur-8X step-out appraisal extended the Faghur Field by 1.6 miles (2.7 km) to the east. The well logged 79 feet of stacked Cretaceous pay in multiple AEB sands. A well test in one AEB sand flowed at an average rate of 2,992 barrels per day.

The Pepi and Buchis discoveries set up several additional exploration drilling opportunities on trend, and the Faghur-8X significantly increased the size of the field and set up a number of follow-up development drilling opportunities.

Current gross production from the Faghur Basin is approximately 24,000 barrels of oil per day. Additional infrastructure projects are expected to bring processing and transportation capacity from the basin to 40,000 barrels of oil per day before year-end 2010. In the second quarter, Apache's gross production in Egypt totaled approximately 181,000 barrels of oil and 789 MMcf of gas per day; Apache's net production during the period totaled approximately 98,500 barrels of oil and 388 MMcf of gas per day.

Apache has drilled five discoveries among eight exploration wells in the Faghur Basin during 2010. Drilling is under way on two wells – WKAL I-3X and Nebra-1X – and five additional exploration wells are planned. Apache continues to evaluate 3-D seismic surveys – including a recently completed 155-square-mile (400 km2) survey – to identify additional exploration opportunities in the basin, which extends across portions of several Apache-operated concessions.

"The Faghur Basin continues to be a successful focus area for Apache, with AEB and Safa reservoirs that have proven to be prolific oil and gas producers. These recent discoveries support the multi-pay potential of this oil-prone area of the Western Desert," said Tom Voytovich, vice president of Apache's Egypt Region.

"These discoveries also provide additional evidence of the exploration potential on Apache acreage in Egypt and the benefits of working in stacked-pay areas," he said.

Apache Corporation is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company with operations in the United States, Canada, Egypt, the United Kingdom North Sea, Australia and Argentina. Apache posts announcements, updates and investor information, in addition to copies of all recent press releases, on its Web site, http://www.apachecorp.com.

This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 including, without limitation, expectations, beliefs, plans and objectives regarding production and exploration activities. Any matters that are not historical facts are forward-looking and, accordingly, involve estimates, assumptions, risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, risks, uncertainties and other factors discussed in our most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K, recent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, recent Current Reports on Form 8-K available on our website, http://www.apachecorp.com/, and in our other public filings and press releases. There is no assurance that Apache's expectations will be realized, and actual results may differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. We assume no duty to update these statements as of any future date.  However, readers should review carefully reports and documents that Apache files periodically with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

APA-EG

SOURCE Apache Corporation