[Goldfisch]

LUKoil begins drilling at northeastern Egyptian field
11/11/2004 11:05:00 AM GMT

LUKoil, the country's top oil producer, began drilling the first appraisal well at the Egyptian shelf field as the company is planning to compete with BP and Royal Dutch/Shell Group for market share in Africa.

Drilling began at the 1,820-meter deep well at the Northeast Geisum oil field, which needs $6 million of investment, LUKoil Overseas Holding said in a statement. Drilling of the first well at the West Geisum oil field in the Gulf of Suez in Egypt was postponed to February, the company said.

"The exploration program for both blocks covers a period of four years and includes drilling of four exploration wells," LUKoil said in the statement.

LUKoil plans to invest as much as $400 million in Egypt as it is expecting to expand output abroad to about 15 percent of its total production within a decade. The company wants to work on more fields when the country offers them, Andrei Kuzyaev, president of LUKoil Overseas Holding, said in April.

Initially, LUKoil planned to drill two exploration wells in Egypt this year and agreed to invest about $343 million to explore and develop the Northeast Geisum and West Geisum oil fields. Lukoil estimated in April that these fields may have as much as 423.8 million barrels of oil resources.

Quelle: Aljazeera