Oil and gas exploration company Apache Corp on Wednesday said it has found a potentially significant oil accumulation in Egypt and plans to drill more wells in the area.

The Heqet-2 appraisal well in Egypt’s Greater Khalda area is producing about 2,100 barrels of oil per day from the Jurassic Safa formation, the Houston company said.

’Using improvements in fracture stimulation technology, we have turned a marginally economic play into a potentially significant oil accumulation,’ Apache chief executive Steven Farris said in a news release.

Fracturing is used to stimulate production. In the process, a fluid under extremely high pressure is pumped into a well to fracture the formation and release oil or natural gas that had been trapped in rock.

Citing the good results at Heqet-2, Apache is now planing to drill four wildcats wells targeting Jurassic oil pools in the Heqet and Neith South areas, it said.

Shares of Apache rose $6.75 or 6.3 percent to $114.38 in early afternoon trade on the New York Stock Exchange, outperforming a 3 percent rise in the American Stock Exchange index of natural gas companies. - Reuters