The company will drill 19 new wells, 15 for exploration and four for development of existing prospects.

“This is a defining year for the upstream operation in Egypt, and this exploration and development programme could potentially double the size of our reserves,” says Hany Elsharkawi, Egypt director for Dana Gas.

One exploration well and one development well will be drilled in the Komombo concession in the south of the country, and three development and 14 exploration wells will be drilled in the Nile delta.

Five of the Nile Delta wells will target the Sidi Salem formation, at a depth of about 4,000 metres.

Dana Gas, which bought local hydrocarbons developer Centurion in 2006, is in the process of acquiring five rigs to carry out the programme (MEED 17:12:06).