Oil discoveries in Egypt's Gulf of Suez

"The state-owned General Petroleum Compay succeeded for the first time in 40 years in discovering three new oil wells 27 meters beneath the Gulf of Suez waters," Petroleum Minister Sameh Fahmi said yesterday.

He explained that the prospecting operations were two kilometers of the western shores of the Gulf.

In statements, Fahmi said that the confirmed total reserve of the first oil well, el-Hamad 1, is estimated at 30 million barrels, while the second, el-Hamad 2, at 25 million barrels, and the third, el-Hamad 3, at 15 million barrels.

On Friday, Fahmi said that crude oil was discovered in the Nile Delta for the first time by al-Mansoura Petroleum Company.

Meanwhile, Fahmi reviewed a report prepared by the chairman of the company on the expectation of added reserve.

In addition the report pointed out that the possibility of digging further wells over the coming period with a capacity hits about 10,000 barrels per day.