Jewel of the Nile Delta: Stage two of the WND project starts up
As BP announces start-up of the second stage of its West Nile Delta mega project in Egypt, BP Magazine takes a closer look at what it means for BP and the region
With the population of Egypt now reaching more than 100 million, the need for an abundant supply of domestic energy is greater than ever. Helping to meet that demand is BP’s West Nile Delta (WND) project, which today celebrates start-up of the second of its three stages.
When the WND project is fully onstream, combined production is expected to reach about 1.4 billion cubic feet of gas a day, equivalent to around 20% of Egypt’s current gas production, which will be fed directly into the country’s national grid.
"Our story in Egypt now stretches back for more than half a century and, thanks to projects like this, it has a bright future. Production from Giza and Fayoum will sustain local energy supply and keep us on track to triple our net production from Egypt by 2020,” says BP North Africa regional president, Hesham Mekawi.
The WND development, in which BP has an operating stake of 82.75%, includes a total of five gas fields across the North Alexandria and West Mediterranean Deepwater offshore concession blocks.
WND is a multi-stage complex project. It was originally planned as two separate projects, but BP and its partners realized the opportunity to deliver it in three stages, accelerating delivery of gas production commitments to Egypt.
Stage one began producing from the project’s first two fields, Taurus and Libra, in 2017. Stage two – announced today – is the Giza and Fayoum development, which will more than double production from phase one. It covers eight wells, producing around 400 million cubic feet of gas a day (mmscfd) and is expected to ramp up to a maximum rate of 700 mmscfd. Stage three, due to come online later this year, will develop the Raven field.
Once gas is flowing from all five fields, their output – together with other major projects, such as Atoll – will help BP Egypt to achieve its target to triple its 2016 net production level by 2020. Moreover, the WND project signals a milestone for BP in the country, not simply because of its scale, but it is the first operated by the business in its more than 55 years there.
“We are proud to have worked with the Egyptian government to deliver this multi-phase, complex project, which plays an important role in both Egypt’s gas supply and BP’s strategy.,” says Mekawi.
During the peak construction period, 7,500 people worked directly or indirectly on the project, with job opportunities prioritized for skilled local people from the surrounding communities of Idku and Rashid.
The following infographic highlights the project's key facts and figures.
