HOUSTON, Feb. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Apache Corporation announced today that its Syrah 5X appraisal well in Egypt's Western Desert test-flowed 47.6 million cubic feet (MMcf) of natural gas per day from the Jurassic Lower Safa sand, extending the Syrah Field -- located on the company's Khalda Concession -- to the northwest. The discovery well, the Syrah 1X, tested 46.5 MMcf per day from a correlative zone in March 2005.
The Syrah Field lies four miles north of the Qasr Field, Apache's largest discovery, which is currently producing 340 MMcf of natural gas and 15,800 barrels of condensate per day from the Lower Safa sand. The Qasr Field, discovered in 2003, contains proved reserves of 2.1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 64.5 million barrels of condensate in the Lower Safa. The Qasr Field also is producing 11,800 barrels of oil per day from the Cretaceous Alem el Bueib (AEB), a shallower formation overlying the deeper Lower Safa.
The Syrah 5X tested the lower 50 feet of Lower Safa pay on a one-inch choke with 2,599 pounds per square inch of flowing wellhead pressure from perforations between 14,210 feet and 14,260 feet.
The success of the Syrah Field and newly acquired 3-D seismic creates the potential for additional exploration on Apache's acreage to the north in the Matruh Concession, where five Jurassic/AEB exploratory tests are planned for 2007. Apache also is evaluating the Jurassic/AEB potential in the four-mile stretch between the Syrah and Qasr fields.
Production from the Syrah field will commence in the third quarter of 2008 upon completion of ongoing infrastructure expansion in the greater Khalda area.
Apache operates Khalda with a 100 percent contractor interest.
Apache Corporation is a large oil and gas independent with operations in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom North Sea, Egypt, Australia and Argentina.
This release contains certain "forward-looking statements" as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, without limitation, expectations, beliefs, plans and objectives regarding reserves, future production, and marketing plans. Among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements are future exploration and development results, availability of needed equipment and personnel, completion of required infrastructure, and the political situation in the Middle East. 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.
APA-EG
