After showing promising signs of an uptick in recent months, both Egypt oil and gas output fell by 2% month on month for August. Cairo had been expecting a significant increase in oil output after key producer, Texas-based Apache, signed new contractual terms earlier this year and with it a commitment to increase activity (MEES, 12 August). But it hasn’t been smooth sailing for Apache, or other firms operating in the Western Desert oil heartland, which have been hit by logistical bottlenecks (MEES, 9 September). This saw Egypt’s oil output fall 2% to 566,000 b/d while Western Desert output was also down 2% month on month to 276,000 b/d.
Egypt’s gas output also posted a 2% month on month fall to 6.465bn cfd for August, following three months of consecutive increases. August output is some 10% down on September 2021’s peak 7.193bn cfd, when a 2.6bn cfd output cap was placed on Italian firm Eni’s flagship 21.5tcf Zohr field in a bid to arrest water breakthrough (MEES, 17 June). The key gas heartland offshore Mediterranean was down 2% for August to 4.896bn cfd while output from the less prolific onshore Nile Delta slumped 4% to 540mn cfd, the lowest monthly figure since April 2016. Gas output from the Western Desert continued to fall. With Apache and other Western Desert producers focusing on more-remunerative oil, the region’s gas production slumped to a new multi-decade low of 869mn cfd. (CONTINUED - 231 WORDS)