Italian energy giant Eni intends to add about 300m cubic feet of gas to the daily production from the Noras field in the Western Desert, by the end of 2015.
This will occur through the new discovery it made last January.
On Wednesday, Eni had witnessed an increase in its share value by 2.46% on the Italian stock exchange, after posting comments by the company’s CEO, Claudio Descalzi, concerning the recently discovered Shorouk (Zohr) natural gas field in the Mediterranean Sea off of Egypt.
The value per share reached €15.2 after Descalzi announced that he expected investments worth $6bn to $10bn for the development of the field.
On the Noras field, a prominent official in the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) said that three wells in the field will start production this year.
He explained that one of the wells will start production this month, while the second will be activated next December. Sixty million cubic feet of natural gas per day were added to Egypt’s production through the first well in the field last month.
The official added that the total production of the three wells will amount to about 300m cubic feet of gas daily, which contributes to compensating for the natural decline of the fields’ productivity in Egypt.
Minister of Petroleum, Sherif Ismail, said that an agreement with Eni was conducted over pricing the Noras discovery it made this year. The procedures and the legal approvals from the competent authorities are being finalised.
He added that the total production of the field will amount to approximately 500m cubic feet by mid-2016. Only one well has started production to date.
Eni announced last January the new petroleum discovery – Noras – in the area of West Meleiha in the Western Desert, about 300 km west of Alexandria.
The company said that the well of West Meleiha was drilled at a depth of 4,175 metres, where oil of high quality, API 40, was discovered. The well is expected to produce 2,100 oil barrels per day.
Eni owns 76% of the Meleiha concession area through IEOC, Eni’s company in Egypt, while the Russian Lukoil owns 24%.
Eni made another petroleum discovery, the last month, in the deep water in the Mediterranean. The initial reserves amounted to 30tn cubic feet of gas. In late August of this year, Eni announced the discovery of “Zohr” the “largest ever” natural gas field in the Mediterranean Sea off Egypt.
Eni added that “Zohr” is the largest gas discovery ever found in Egypt, as well as in the Mediterranean Sea, and could become one of the world’s largest natural gas finds. “The discovery, after its full development, will be able to ensure Egypt’s natural gas demands are satisfied for decades,” the company said.
END
