Having signed improved contract terms with Cairo at the end of last year (MEES, 7 January), Texas-based Apache hiked its capex plan for Egypt’s Western Desert, its largest overseas operation. But though capex has surged, an output rebound from 2021’s 13-year low has been slow to materialize.
Apache pushed its Egypt rig count up to a seven-year high 15 for Q3, three times early-2021 levels, with a further hike to 17 by year end planned. During Q3, 32 wells were drilled and completed, the highest figure since Q2 2018, whilst spending of $177mn was also the highest since 2015 (see chart 1). (CONTINUED - 711 WORDS)
