Oil output from Egypt’s key Western Desert province hit a 12-month high 289,300 b/d for June, with that for the country overall at 582,700 b/d, the highest level this year, as a ramp up in drilling begins to feed through into higher production.

Key Western Desert producer Apache reported average Q2 gross output of 141,000 b/d, level with Q1. But current output is running well above this. For July, output was 145,000 b/d, with the Houston-based firm guiding a 5% quarter-on-quarter rise to 148,000 b/d for Q3 and further 4% gains to 154,000 b/d for Q4. (CONTINUED - 1454 WORDS)