DEVELOPMENT & DISCOVERY ALERTS - Dana Gas Announces Find in Egypt

Dana Gas Announces Find in Egypt

UAE-based Dana Gas on 30 June announced a significant gas discovery in Egypt's Nile Delta, just four days before Egypt's military stepped in to depose the Muslim Brotherhood-led government and usher in another phase of instability. Dana Gas's Begonia-1 well produced 9.4 million cubic feet per day of gas, along with light oil condensate. The Begonia-1 well is in the Lower Abu Madi Formation. Total evaluated resources for the Lower Abu Madi zone are between 7 billion and 15 billion cubic feet, along with around 100,000 barrels of condensate. The timing is important. Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood has been beholden to the largesse of Qatar, and desperately in need of more Qatari gas to keep afloat. The downfall of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, at the hands of the military, is certainly being viewed as a small (if only petty) victory for the UAE and Saudi Arabia, who have grown tired of Qatar's meddling. The Dana Gas find could give a new Egyptian government more domestic supply and require less reliance on Qatar. Dana's average output in Egypt for this year was about 33,600 boepd. This new find could add around 1,600 boepd.

Scotland Wave Energy Dealt Major Blow

E.ON has withdrawn from its partnership with wave-energy developer Pelamis because of the slow pace of development of the much-touted high-technology. Edinburgh-based Pelamis was testing a giant wave energy device at the European Marine Energy Center (EMEC) in Orkney, and Scotland was eyeing status as the world pioneer in wave energy. For Pelamis, E.ON's decision to pull out of the partnership is a major blow. E.ON is refocusing on other forms of renewable energy instead, such as wind, solar and biomass. The company said it would re-evaluate marine energy at a later date, but that for now the technology is not mature enough.