Phase 8b at WDDM Up and Producing

BG Egypt and its partner Petronas, saw the start of gas production from the Phase 8b Deepwater Development Project on the West Delta Deep Marine (WDDM) on June 27. The start up of gas production from this phase represents a successful milestone in the phased development of the WDDM for the partners.

This latest WDDM development is located approximately 90 km offshore the Nile Delta and as other development work progresses, a further seven wells will be tied-in to the sub-sea facilities during the next few months.

Petrojet, an affiliate of the Egyptian General Petroleum Corp., fabricated all of the subsea structures in their Maadia yard, making this the largest subsea construction project completed by the Maadia facility.

Drilling and completion operations are being undertaken by three semi-submersible deepwater rigs: the Saipem-operated Scarabeo 6, the Transocean-operated Amirante rig, and the Diamond Offshore-operated OceanEndeavour. Saipem was awarded the main subsea EPIC contract that includes detailed engineering design, procurement, fabrication, and installation. The majority of the subsea control systems are being supplied by Vetco Gray, with Aker Solutions providing controls systems for one well. Cameron is supplying the eight subsea trees and subsea deepwater connector system components.

Commenting on the successful start up of Phase 8b, BG Egypt president Arshad Sufi said: “We are very pleased to announce the successful start-up of this new phase, which to date has been delivered under budget and ahead of schedule. Phase 8b will help BG Egypt and our partners maintain plateau production from the fields to meet our contracted gas commitments.”

BG Group executive VP Sami Iskander also commented on the successful start-up of this new Phase: “Phase 8b demonstrates our ongoing commitment to Egypt and to the responsible sustainable development of the country’s resources to ensure maximized benefits for the country and for the investing partners. We have adhered to our investment program in Egypt during turbulent times, and we are determined to continue doing so in the future – building upon our past and ongoing successes and our strong partnership with the government of Egypt.”

Sanctioned in May 2011, Phase 8b is managed by the joint operating company Burullus Gas Co. S.A.E. (EGPC 50%, BG Group 25%, Petronas 25%).