Gebel el Zeit is a district in the Red Sea Governorate, Egypt. The area contains large quantities of oil, which appear as oil rays. It also has many caves, especially near the seashore, through which crude oil flows by natural pressure from depths of up to 1000 meters.
Location of Gebel el Zeit
The Gebel El-Zeit area is located on the western coast of the Gulf of Suez, Egypt. The regions in/and around the Gulf of Suez are crucial due to their hydrocarbon resources.
Oil Extraction
The Jabal al-Zayt region is famous for its vast wealth of oil, which the ancient Egyptians used to embalm their dead since ancient times. In 1854, Khedive Saeed brought in an American expert who specialized in collecting and extracting oil that leaked to the earth’s surface in ponds dug for this purpose. A building was built for his workplace, providing him with the necessary labour.
At that time, there were two theories of oil extraction. The first was drilling deep wells (relatively) to the places and layers of its presence, which were determined by surface geology. The second was in the superficial drilling of ponds in the areas where it erupted to collect economic quantities.
After five years, the idea of surface drilling failed. The American geologist Dirk, who adopted the drilling wells, achieved tremendous success in the United States of America, and the petroleum industry began writing historically as a source of energy.
Jebel El-Zayt port
Jabal El-Zayt seaport, an oil port, is located north of Hurghada in Egypt, 80 km south of Adabiya, and 278 km on the west bank of the Gulf of Suez. It is a small anchorage protected from the north, northeast and west winds.
Wildlife
The Jabal al-Zayt area is considered an essential itinerary for the migration path of birds and the second most crucial path for the migration of soaring birds worldwide. The only passage to it is called the “Great African Border of the Red Sea” in Gebel El-Zeit in Egypt.
Several international conferences accused Egypt of killing migratory birds in the Jabal al-Zayt area, including high-altitude turbines to generate wind energy. The alleged studies showed that these turbines kill birds, threatening to stop European grants and funds.
