Badr oil field (BED-1) in Egypt is an onshore oil field which recorded significant production from conventional reservoirs following its discovery in 1982.
Since November 2014, the field is operated by the Western Desert Operating Petroleum (WEPCO).
Canada-based oil and gas company TAG Oil signed a petroleum services agreement (PSA) in September 2022 with the Badr Petroleum Company (BPCO) to develop the unconventional Abu Roash F reservoir (ARF) in the Badr field.
TAG Oil achieved first oil at BED-1 in May 2023 via the re-entry of the vertical well BED 1-7, which represents the first step to establish oil production from the ARF Formation.
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The ARF oil-initially-in-place (OIIP) P50 Volumes is estimated to be 531.5 million barrels over the BED-1 concession area and mean volumes to be 536.6 million barrels.
Badr Field Location Details
The Badr field is located on the edge of Qattara Depression in the Western Desert of Egypt, about 300km west of Cairo in Egypt. The oil field is situated around 90km south of Alamein City, beside Abu Gharadig Field.
Overall, the BED-1 concession covers an area of 107km2 (26,000 acres).
History of the Badr Oil Field
The Badr Oil Field was discovered in 1982 by BPCO, a joint venture between the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) and Shell. It was the oldest producing field for the JV.
The historical production was primarily from conventional reservoirs of light oil and associated natural gas through primary development of the Kharita, Bahariya and Abu Roash ‘C, D, and G’ formations.
In November 2012, the oil field was relinquished following the end of concession agreement between the companies.
Subsequently, WEPCO was selected by EGPC in 2014 for exploration and development activities in the field from the sea level to the lower Kharita formation.
Abu Roash ‘F’ reservoir development details
Under a PSA, TAG Oil is developing the unconventional heavy oil Abu Roash ‘F’ (ARF) formation in the BED-1 concession.
Before the award, TAG Oil evaluated the data package provided by the EGPC and it submitted the final letter of intent (LoI) to develop the ARF formation following extensive negotiations with EGPC.
According to the EGPC-provided data, the ARF hosts significant volumes of oil in place in the BED-1 concession. TAG Oil has also carried out a detailed technical analysis of the geologic, geophysical and well production data of the target ARF zone.
The formation tested medium gravity crude oil without stimulation, with wells demonstrating high initial rates with rapid decline.
The LoI proposed the development of the ARF reservoir unconventionally in three phases.
The first phase is an Evaluation Period referred to as a pilot development stage. It will be followed by the Commercial Production stages in Phase II and Phase III, following a successful Phase I.
TAG plans to leverage long-reach horizontal wells, hydraulic fracture stimulation and Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) techniques to produce oil from the low porosity and low permeability carbonate reservoir.
The company’s Field Development Plan (FDP) comprises drilling of 20 horizontal wells with multi-stage fracture stimulation. The development will focus on the east central region of the BED-1 concession area.
This region contains OIIP P50 volumes of 178.3 million barrels and mean volumes of 179 million barrels.
Contractor involved
RPS Energy Canada prepared a resources evaluation report of the ARF unconventional formation in the Badr Oil Field.
The results of the report were announced by TAG Oil in November 2022.
Petroleum Services Agreement details
In October 2022, TAG Oil signed the Petroleum Services Agreement (PSA) to develop ARF in the Badr Oil Field.
Under the agreement, TAG Oil will receive a service fee from Badr Petroleum Company for assuming the costs and expenses for capital and operating expenditures for the development.
The amount will be a percentage of gross revenues generated from the project.
Additionally, TAG will receive an entitlement fee for all production and sale during the term of the PSA, including the piloting period.
The concession term will run until 2032 with an option of a ten-year extension.