MENA Hydrocarbons Starts Up Ops at Lagia Oil Field

MENA Hydrocarbons Inc. announced an operations update for Lagia oil field development in Egypt.

Creation of Joint Venture Company, PetroSinai

MENA announced that the joint venture company with the Egyptian Petroleum Company (EGPC), named PetroSinai, has been established to assume operations in Egypt for the Lagia oil field. MENA staff will continue to operate the Lagia oil field on behalf of PetroSinai until such time as arrangements for new premises and staffing for PetroSinai are completed which are expected during April, 2012.

Start of Operations in the Lagia field

Operations on the Lagia oil field development commenced March 16, 2012. Using Petroservices Drilling Overseas (PSDO) 750 HP rig Shams 1, the six well program consists of working over two existing wells, the drilling of two development wells and drilling a further two appraisal wells.

Well Lagia 6, drilled in 2000, has now been successfully re-entered and re-perforated.

The existing Lagia 6 and 7 wells are expected to be completed with a subsurface pump whereafter two development wells and two appraisal wells are planned to be drilled to the top of the Thebes formation at around 1500 feet. The development wells will be completed with thermal casing in order to facilitate steam injection as part of a cyclic steam soak pilot project and fitted with a sucker rod pump. A contract for the rental of a 24 MM BTU steam plant is currently being finalized. The plant is expected to arrive by mid 2012. Installation of production facilities for the pilot phase is being finalized to be operational after completion of the workovers. The produced oil will be transported by road tanker to the production facilities of the General Petroleum Company (GPC) at Ras Gharib.