+ Oil production in Egypt Year Barrels <1911 0 1911 21,000 1912 214,000 1913 98,000 1914 753,000 1915 212,000 1916 404,000 1917 943,000 1918 1,935,000 1919 1,517,000 1920 1,042,000 1921 1,255,000 1922 1,188,000 1923 1,054,000 1924 1,122,000 1925 1,226,000 1926 1,188,000 1927 1,267,000 1928 1,842,000 1929 1,868,000 1930 1,996,000 1931 2,038,000 1932 1,895,000 1933 1,663,000 1934 1,546,000 1935 1,301,000 1936 1,278,000 1937 1,196,000 1938 1,581,000 1939 4,666,000 1940 6,505,000 1941 8,546,000 1942 8.275,000 1943 8,953,000 1944 9,416,000 1945 9,406,000 1946 9,070,000 1947 8,627,000

Anglo-Egyptian Oilfields Limited was an oil company registered in London, England on 6 July 1911 with a capital of £676,000 (£226,000 Anglo-Saxon Petroleum (Royal Dutch Shell), £450,000 Red Sea Oilfields Ltd) page 67 of the 1962 edition with oilfields in Egypt. It was a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell.http://wiki.openoil.net/index.php?title=History_of_Egyptian_oil_and_gas_industry

Egypt was the first oil producing country in the Middle East, even before Iran, but production was quite insignificant compared to the region's major oil producing countries.

The company headquarter was moved from London to Cairo in 1951 and taxes where henceforth paid to the Egyptian government, except those on dividends paid to UK residents. The company board for the first time met on July 10 in the newly build 10-story Shell House headquarters in which the Shell Company of Egypt Ltd and Anglo-Iranian Oil Co. (Egypt) Ltd were co-tenants.

The capital structure of the company (par value and number of shares issued) did not change between 1920 and 1954. In 1920 it was £1,350,000 (all issued) and as a typical part of the combine owned 60% by Royal Dutch and 40% by Shell. On May 31, 1956 the capital was increased to £5,665,500 and one bonus share issued for each two shares (i.e. a :1 stock split). The company properties were sequestered by order of Egyptian authorities on November 2, 1956 (Suez Crisis) and de-sequestered on April 21, 1959 and this was finalized on July 11, 1959 with control passing back to the former owners. In July 1961 the government of the United Arab Republic acquired a 55% shareholding in the company. It was renamed as the Al Nasr Oilfields Company on 4 January 1962, and was converted into a United Arab Republic Company. It seems to have been nationalised in 1964, and news reports cite Gamal Abdel Nasser's seizing in 1964 while Skinner's Oil and petroleum year book suggests 1951 control.

Oil fields

exclusive

The Gemsah field () was discovered in 1908 and yielded light oil of 41° API gravity, but the total amount was only 1,442,098 barrels over its lifetime.

The Hurghada field () was discovered in 1913, production peaked in 1931 (1,800,000bbl). Produced 302,200bbl in 1951 from 23 pumping wells and there were 5 shut-in wells. The oil was relatively heavy (22° - 30° API)

The Ras Gharib field () was discovered in 1938. In 1951 8,036,900bbl were produced from 14 flowing, 70 pumping, 17 gas-lift and 26 shut-in wells.

jointly with Socony-Vacuum

The Sudr field () in 1951 produced 3,726,400bbl of 19°-23° API gravity from 8 flowing, 1 pumping and 6 shut-in wells. Connected to Sudr anchorage by a 6-inch and a 10-inch pipe line.

The Asl field () was discovered in 1948. Linked to Sudr terminal by 6-inch and 10-inch pipeline. 22° API oil.

The Ras Matarma field () was discovered in 1948.

On the Nebwi Lease () seven dry holes were drilled and #7 abandoned at a depth of 5,292 ft on Nov 11, 1950, presumably the last hole drilled on the lease.

Other facilities

The Suez refinery () 1.5 miles southwest of the Suez town center was co-located with the government refinery located 3 miles southwest of the center. A twin 12-inch products pipeline (28,000 - 40,000 tons per month) from the Shell jetties at Suez led to a tank farm and pumping station () near Agrud and from there 75 miles of 6-inch pipe to the Ghamra terminal () east of Cairo. There was also the Nifisha terminal () connected to Agrud.

Well statistics

Through 1928 there were drilled 93,000ft in total exploration wells, From 1929 until 1936 exploratory drilling virtually ceased. Revisions in mining regulations in 1937 stimulated efforts by AEO, Socony-Vacuum, Standard Oil of New Jersey and CalTex. During World War II, 116 wells totaling 272,053 feet were completed at Ras Gharib, but exploratory drilling was suspended with no new wells spudded after Gharib West No. 4 on November 5, 1940 until Ayun Musa No. 1 on December 23, 1944. With the exception of the force majeure due to the war there was a period of intensified exploration activity in Egypt from 1937 through to 1948.

Maps of wildcats: 1949

+ Wells completed Year Hurghada Gharib Sudr Asl Matarma Wildcats Oil Dry Feet Oil Dry Feet Oil Dry Feet Oil Dry Feet Oil Dry Feet Oil Dry Feet 1938 many none 1 1 4,495 1939 0 6 19,817 1940 0 10 45,700 1941 0 4 19,860 1942 none 1943 1944 0 3 8,424 19 0 44,650 none none 0 3 13,694 1945 none 12 0 28,620 0 4 20,259 1946 6 0 15,355 1 9 52,086 1947 6 0 15,933 3 0 21,388 0 6 33,049 1948 1 2 10,091 3 0 10,090 6 2 21,291 2 4 37,404 1949 0 4 14,721 1 0 ? 1 2 15,859 4 2 26,581 1 2 12,669 some 1950 0 0 0 6 0 13,784 6 3 28,170 2 3 23,010 0 0 0 1951 1 2 5,500 2 0 4,973 1 0 6,578 0 6 24,561 0 0 0 1952 7 4 27,542 1953 0 0 0 3 2 17,813 0 1954 7 oil, 3 dry, 38,397ft 1955 10 oil, 3 dry, 29,600ft 1956 15 oil, 2 dry, 127,169ft 1957 13 oil, 7 dry, 141,553ft 1958 0 1 0 2,771 0 1959 0 0 0 3 0 9,281 0 1960 0 0 0 2 0 2,920 1 0 3,000 0

Production statistics

+ Oil production by field (tons) Year Gemsah Hurghada 1911 1,220 0 1912 27,454 1913 12,586 1914 91,009 10,964

+ Oil production by field (barrels) Hurghada Gharib 1937 1,141,356 1938 1,019,520 512,988

+ Oil production by field (x 1000 barrels) Year Gemsah Hurghada Durba Gharib Sudr Asl Matarma 1910 12 1911 9 1912 213 1913 98 1914 682 79 1915 113 119 1916 83 312 1917 52 883 1918 38 1,887 1919 32 1,517 1920 21 994 1921 34 1,231 1922 23 1,158 5 1923 5 1,043 2 1924 5 1,111 3 1925 9 1,215 7 1926 5 1,174 7 1927 1 1,255 8 1928 1,859 6 1929 1,898 4 1930 1,980 3 1931 2,005 6 1932 1,870 1 1933 1,644 1 1934 1,523 1 1935 1,250 3 1936 1,266 1937 1,178 6 1938 1,053 2 525 1939 894 1 3,775 1940 751 4 5,769 1941 662 3 7,841 1942 3 577 1 7,542 1943 486 1 8,447 1944 486 1 8,932 1945 437 2 8.932 1946 2 375 8,527 1947 351 9,300 118 1948 341 9,323 3,494 1949 317 8,402 5,448 1,671 1950 22 265 7,945 4,250 3,844 1951 301 8,026 3,727 4,245 1952 274 8,366 2,341 5,456 1953 268 8,492 2,127 5,615 1954 261 8,810 2,153 2,404 105 1955 250 8,392 2,189 1,147 127 1956 2 260 7,155 1,809 983 113 1957 13 211 7,692 2,035 1,089 100 1958 222 7,030 1.228 1,040 78 1959 226 6,441 1,103 1,046 98

The Egyptian Oil Industry

Government

The Abu Durba field () was operated by the government.

South Mediterranean Oil Co

The South Mediterranean Oil Co, Ltd. was a joint-venture of Standard Oil of California and Texaco (see also: Caltex). The company began prospecting in Egypt in 1938. It had ca. 240 exploratory permits covering 5 million acres and was conducting field geology and geophysical exploration. Had (at least) one large rig and several smaller units. Drilled Khatatba No. 1 to 7,000 ft 25 miles northwest of Cairo and found nothing and shortly thereafter in May 1945 announced its withdrawal from Egypt. The assets were bought by AEO, Socony-Vacuum and Standard Oil Co of Egypt (subsidiary of Standard of NJ) in the fall of 1945.

References

External links