Last year, the company sold its entire Egyptian portfolio to Apache for $US62 million and acquired from Apache a portfolio of production and exploration leases in the US.
This week Apache has reported two significant oil and gas discoveries in Novus' former Khalda project in the space of a week. The first, Khepri-9 well in the country's Western Desert, test-flowed 29.5 million cubic feet of gas and 220 barrels of condensate per day.
"This is a significant discovery for Apache. The pay zone tested was more than 450 metres down dip from the crest of the Khalda Ridge, one of the largest hydrocarbon accumulations in the Western Desert, yet still had good porosity and permeability," Apache president and CEO Mr G Steven Farris said.
The second, a wildcat well in its Ozoris-1X prospect, tested at 2,504 barrels of oil and 750,000 cubic feet of gas per day. Further drilling is planned at both sites to determine the extent of the reserves.
In other news from the 'Dark Continent', Royal Dutch/Shell and its joint venture partners have outlined plans to invest up to $US7.5 billion in Nigeria's oil and gas industry. Most of the money will be directed at Shell's stake in one of Africa's biggest industrial investments, the Nigeria LNG (NLNG) project. Other joint venture partners include the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp, TotalFinaElf and Agip.
