Oil and gas producer Apache and partner Regal Petroleum appear to have a disovery on their shared East Ras Budran, or ERB, acreage in Egypt’s Gulf of Suez basin, an area not showing much oil promise.

Well ERB-A-1X has been suspended as a future producer, after a test flowed 1,910 barrels of 17-degree API oil per day assisted by nitrogen injected at 11,900 feet. It was the first of two wells committed to on the concession, and it went down to 13,600 feet total depth, despite a “near-horizontal” directional drill.

An appraisal well, ERB-A-2X, is under consideration to follow the second exploraton well, ERB-B-1X well, later in 2007.

Apache is about to submit a Notice of Commercial Discovery to Egyptian regulators, although a statement from Regal chief exec, Neil Ritson, said it was still “too early to assess the reserves potential of the ERB-A-1X field”.

ws@scandoil.com