In a statement released on 16 February, Dana Gas says that initial testing of the well, named Manzala-2, provided 11 million cubic feet a day (cf/d) of natural gas.

Production from the well, which is “a few hundred feet” from the company’s pipeline leading to its South Manzala gas processing facility, is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2009, according to Ahmed Al-Arbeed, executive director of upstream production at Dana Gas.

The well had been drilled to a total depth of 1,510 metres, showing a total of 13 metres of gas.

The news follows the discovery of 150 billion cubic feet of gas and condensates in early January at the company’s Salma-1 well at its West Qantara Concession.

Dana gas ended 2008 with a daily production rate of 31,640 barrels of oil equivalent from its Egyptian operations.