Mena Hydrocarbons Announces Operations Start In Lagia Oil Field And Creation Of Joint Venture Company
MENA Hydrocarbons Inc. ("MENA" or the "Company") is pleased to announce an operations update for Lagia oil field development in Egypt.
Creation of Joint Venture Company, PetroSinai
MENA announces that the joint venture company with the Egyptian Petroleum Company (EGPC), named PetroSinai, has been established to assume operations in Egypt for the Lagia oil field. MENA staff will continue to operate the Lagia oil field on behalf of PetroSinai until such time as arrangements for new premises and staffing for PetroSinai are completed which are expected during April, 2012.
Start of Operations in the Lagia field
Operations on the Lagia oil field development commenced March 16, 2012. Using Petroservices Drilling Overseas (PSDO) 750 HP rig Shams 1, the six well programme consists of working over two existing wells, the drilling of two development wells and drilling a further two appraisal wells.
Well Lagia 6, drilled in 2000, has now been successfully re-entered and re-perforated.
The existing Lagia 6 and 7 wells are expected to be completed with a subsurface pump whereafter two development wells and two appraisal wells are planned to be drilled to the top of the Thebes formation at around 1500 ft. The development wells will be completed with thermal casing in order to facilitate steam injection as part of a cyclic steam soak pilot project and fitted with a sucker rod pump. A contract for the rental of a 24 MM BTU steam plant is currently being finalised. The plant is expected to arrive by mid 2012. Installation of production facilities for the pilot phase is being finalised to be operational after completion of the workovers. The produced oil will be transported by road tanker to the production facilities of the General Petroleum Company (GPC) at Ras Gharib.
Lagia Oil Field
MENA is the sole participant in the joint venture company with EGPC, which operates the Lagia Development Lease covering a 32 square kilometre block of land located on the Sinai Peninsula, directly adjacent to the Gulf of Suez. Within the lease, four wells have been drilled between the years 1949 to 2000 that have identified the Lagia oil field. Three producing oil fields, Sudr, Matarma and Asl, are located as close as 26 km to the north of the Lagia oil field.
About MENA Hydrocarbons
MENA Hydrocarbons is an international oil and gas company focused on growing an asset base of production, development and high impact exploration in the Middle East and North Africa region. In Egypt, MENA owns and operates the development lease for the Lagia oil field, a 32 square kilometre onshore block located on the Sinai Peninsula, directly adjacent to the Gulf of Suez. In Syria, MENA owns a 30% participating interest in Block 9 in Syria, a 10,032 square kilometre onshore block prospective for crude oil, natural gas and condensate. In the United States, MENA owns 6,242 gross acres (with an 81.2% average working interest) in Northwestern Montana with light/medium oil reserves, and 36,201 gross acres (with a 99.5% average working interest) in East-Central Utah prospective for both commercial gas sand and coal bed methane. MENA's shares currently trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "MNH".
For more information, please see MENA's corporate presentation on www.menahydrocarbons.com,
SOURCE: MENA Hydrocarbons