Sea Dragon Energy Inc.
Currently prospering from its investments in acquiring interests in two large concessions in Egypt, Sea Dragon Energy is expanding its operations in the country with additional exploration and development drilling and acquisition of new opportunities, President and COO A.D. “Tony” Anton points out. The company – which is producing approximately 1,300 barrels daily in Egypt and plans to reach 2,000 barrels by the end of 2011 – also is exploring investment opportunities outside of Egypt. “We are expanding our geographical base beyond just Egypt – where the
company is sharply focused at present – to look at opportunities abroad,” Anton announces. “When you look at junior international companies, you’ll find that those that are present in more than one jurisdiction tend to get more favorable reception by the market than those that are just sharply focused in one country.”
These plans were in place before the regime change in Egypt, Anton maintains. “These are significant opportunities that take some time to evaluate, negotiate and close,” he points out. “We don’t have to land too many of them to see a transformational change in the size of Sea Dragon.”
The company is evaluating opportunities in South America and the “stans” – Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. “They are coming back as favorable investment regions,” Anton asserts. “We are looking at opportunities there. We’re not by any means leaving Egypt. We think the deal flow is very good and attractive in Egypt, and we’re continuing to expand our base there.”
Red Sea Dragon
Sea Dragon originally was formed in 2007 to drill for oil in the Red Sea. But when those operations were unsuccessful, Anton and other managers from Centurion Oil – which they grew from nothing to 40,000 barrels daily before it was sold – joined Sea Dragon in late 2009 and embarked on an aggressive acquisition program.
The company currently is decreasing production at the NW Gemsa project to conserve its flare gas until facilities are completed to collect the solution gas and extract the hydrocarbon liquid from it. Production levels will resume after that.
“We are drilling water injection wells to commence a water flood, which will repressurize the field and bring us back to production levels that were initially achieved and maybe surpass them,” Anton explains. “In doing so, you increase your recovery of crude oil that is in the ground from 25 percent under natural primary recovery means to 40 percent or 45 percent of the oil in place under water flood recovery means.”
The production peak at NW Gemsa had been 10,000 barrels daily. “So the field is capable of doing more, but it’s deliberately being choked back,” Anton points out.
“We are looking at a five-year, long-range plan of growing the company from its current production of being 1,200 barrels a day when we first started to 50,000 barrels a day,” he adds.
Anton – who works out of Sea Dragon’s headquarters in Calgary – left Egypt in the 1960s. “Being from Egypt, we’re familiar with the country, we speak the language, we are sensitive to the culture and we have the contacts to move around a little bit more easily than some of the other foreign contractors,” he declares.