Through its affiliate company, Repsol Exploraci�n Egypt, and in a joint venture with Deminex Suez Petroleum, Repsol has acquired the 33,1/3% stake owned by Shell Egypt N.V. in two production concessions: the Ras Budran field and the Ras Fanar, Zeit Bay and LL-87 fields, in the Gulf of Suez East and West, respectively. Current production from these fields is 82,000 barrels per day.

Following this purchase, Repsol and Deminex hold a 50% stake each, and the latter is joint operator with the Egyptian General Petroleum Company (EGPC), the Egyptian national oil company.

This transaction reinforces Repsol's presence in Egypt, where it is already the third most important foreign company in terms of production volume, with a net production of 30,000 barrels per day out of the Khalda, Umbarka, South Umbarka and Gulf of Suez East and West concessions.

Furthermore, a new gas field, SHAMS, was discovered on the Khalda concession in the last week of December. The discovery well, SHAMS-1XA, was drilled 6 kilometres west of the Amoun gas field, to a depth of 4,100 metres and encountered gas bearing Ras Qattara sandstone of Jurassic Age.

During initial testing the well produced up to 650,000 cubic metres of gas per day and the discovery well is expected to undergo additional extended testing. Logs indicate over 33 m of net pay in the single Ras Qattara interval that was tested, plus an aggregate potential of over 26 m of net pay in various Khatatba sands. This is the third exploratory well drilled on the Khalda Concession in 1994, all three of which were discoveries. A fourth exploratory well, Nabil-2X, will be spudded before year-end.

The Khalda concession is owned by the consortium made up of Repsol Exploraci�n (50%), Phoenix (40%) and Samsung (10%). It is operated by Khalda Petroleum Company, an Egyptian Corporation belonging jointly to the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation, (EGPC), and the consortium.

Repsol participates in several gas discoveries located in the Western Desert (Khalda and Tarek) and the East Delta, the development of which will make it possible to take advantage of the excellent business opportunities presented by further gasification in Egypt. Apart from the above, Repsol recently won an international tender for the exploration of new blocks in the South of the Gulf of Suez and the Western Desert.