Dragon Oil, wholly owned by the Dubai Government, has begun production of crude oil from the Al Wasl field (North Safa), which is the company’s first oil discovery in Egypt, Emirates News Agency, WAM, said in a report.

The company said that the project includes establishing a new offshore production platform and carrying out measures such as extending a production line and an electricity line to operate oil production pumps, in addition to a water injection project, in order to maintain high production rates and achieve the highest development rates for existing reserves.

Dragon Oil said it intends to complete the development work of the Al Wasl field at the earliest, by connecting the second well south of Belayim 293-6 with the production line during the middle of this January, in order to raise the production capacity to 3,000 barrels of crude oil per day, thus increasing the platform’s production to 6,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

According to the plan agreed upon with the Egyptian authorities, Dragon Oil will drill seven new wells during the next two years, aiming to reach 15,000 barrels per day of crude oil production from the Al Wasl field.

The operation of the Al Wasl offshore platform came after the successful implementation of the first phase of the early production project for the Al Wasl field, and following the completion of the evaluation operations of the well, south of Belayim 293-5A, when it was put on production at an initial rate of 3,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

The Al Wasl field, North Safa, which was discovered in 2021 by Dragon Oil, is the largest oil discovery in the Gulf of Suez region during the last 20 years, with an oil reserve exceeding 95 million barrels at the very least, which prompted the company to adopt an ambitious project for early production with a total investment of $200 million.