The rig has arrived on location and is currently preparing to spud the Khefren-1X oil exploration well, in Central Gulf of Suez, Egypt within the next 24 hours.
Khefren-1X is being drilled in the South East July concession, 6km southeast of the Sakkara oil discovery.
This initial wildcat oil well is being spudded less than three days after Santos announced it was expanding its global oil and gas search by joining the US-based Devon Energy Corporation in the Australian company's first North African exploration venture.
Santos is investing approximately $70 million in a joint eight-well exploration venture over three years in the Gulf of Suez, with Devon as operator. It is the first move by Santos into the North African/Middle East region.
Santos’ participation will earn equity interests ranging from 20% to 50% in the three concessions, which contain exploration opportunities with a gross unrisked mean resource potential of several hundred million barrels of oil and possibly gas.
It follows other international moves by Santos in the past month, including an expansion of its Indonesian and USA exploration acreage and prospects and the agreement to acquire additional Indonesian oil and gas assets, following PT Medco’s bid for Novus Petroleum.
