Cheiron  said that it has made a new oil discovery in the Geisum and Tawila West in the Gulf of Suez. Cheiron (through its PICO GOS affiliate) holds a 60% working interest and operatorship in the Concession, with Kufpec holding the remaining 40% interest. The field operations are managed by the PetroGulf Misr Joint Operating Company on behalf of EGPC (50%) and the Partners (50%).

The discovery was made by the GNN-11 exploration well, which was drilled into a fault block to the east of the GNN oil field development. The well encountered 165 feet of good quality vertical net pay in the Pre-Miocene Nubia formation and this is the first time the Nubia has been found to be oil bearing in the GNN area of the Concession. The producing reservoir in the main GNN field is in the Nukhul formation.

The well was drilled from the recently installed GNN Early Production Facility (EPF) and has been successfully placed on production at a rate of over 2,500 bopd. As result of the new well, and the successful drilling campaign conducted to date on the field, the gross oil production from the Concession has reached 23,000 bopd, compared to 4,000 bopd before the GNN field was developed.

GNN-11 is the fourth well to be completed from the EPF, which is located in the central area of the field and includes a conductor support platform, a mobile offshore production unit and a 10-inch oil export pipeline, tied back to the existing Geisum Star production complex. A further 3 wells can be drilled from the EPF and these will be used to complete the current phase of the GNN drilling program.

The new Nubia discovery confirms the exploration potential in the northern area of the Concession and Cheiron and Kufpec are planning to drill at least three additional exploration wells in the Concession area. In a broader sense, the discovery also demonstrates that whilst the Gulf of Suez is a relatively mature hydrocarbon province, it still has significant remaining exploration potential.