Shell discovers hydrocarbons offshore Egypt

Shell said it and its partners have discovered hydrocarbons in deep water off the Egyptian coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
A spokesman for Shell in London said Shell, Petronas Carigali and the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding successfully drilled to a planned depth of 3,613 meters at the first of three planned exploration wells of the Northeast Mediterranean Deepwater Concession, known as NEMED.

The well is located about 150 km north of Alexandria and is the deepest so far drilled in the Mediterranean.
The spokesman was unable to say how much oil or gas flowed from the well, or when appraisal of the discovery would begin, but that information gathered from the drilling was being evaluated.

The semi-submersible drilling rig used at this, the KG45-1 well, is now being prepared to move to the second drilling site, around 25 km to the Northeast.
The NEMED concession covers around 41,500 sq km, roughly the same size as The Netherlands, the spokesman said.