Egypt: Khalda Petroleum reduces oil well drilling time, saves $18mln expenditure
In cooperation with Apache, Khalda Petroleum achieved a remarkable accomplishment in enhancing the performance of oil and gas drilling operations in the Western Desert fields.
This aligns with the ministry's first pillar to support exploration and production activities and secure citizens' needs for oil and gas at the lowest cost.
The drilling team succeeded in reducing the time required to connect drilling pipes from 24 minutes to an average of 18 minutes, with record times in some wells reaching as low as 12.5 minutes.
This resulted in lowering the overall drilling time by 60 days in 2024 and generating cost savings of nearly $3 million.
Furthermore, the company managed to complete connections on 110 wells, which led to a 25% improvement in performance.
In the first half (H1) of 2025, the company drilled 54 wells, achieving a 15% enhancement in drilling time performance compared to 2024.
This contributed to reducing total drilling time by 180 days and generating economic savings estimated at around $15 million.
This successful operation was implemented through collaboration between Khalda Petroleum and Apache, along with HLB, SLB and Baker Hughes.
Khalda Petroleum has set a new target for 2026 to reduce connection time to 12 minutes, following the directives of the ministry and the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) to achieve maximum efficiency at the lowest cost.
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