The Italian company Eni aims to begin pumping 200m cubic feet of gas per day from the deep-water Zohr field in the Mediterranean by October, through a temporary ground gas processing station.
A source at the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) told Daily News Egypt that Eni will rent a temporary station until it completes the establishment of the permanent treatment plant.
He added that Eni is set to complete the first phase of the treatment plant with a capacity of 650m cubic feet of gas per day by the end of 2017.
He noted that Eni completed the drilling of six wells in shorter time than expected and will be linked to the treatment facility by the end of 2017.
The source estimated investments of the treatment plant at $4bn, which will have a total capacity of 2.7bn cubic feet of gas per day.
The total investments in the Zohr field amounted to $12bn and are expected to reach $16bn throughout the life of the field. The estimated cost of drilling one well in Zohr field is around $100m.
Eni aims to link 900m cubic feet of gas per day to the national gas pipeline grid by the end of 2017 or the first quarter of 2018. The project is expected to produce 2.7bn cubic feet of gas by 2020.
The Shorouk Concession Development Agreement stipulates that Eni sets aside 40% of the total value of gas produced to pay back foreign partner’s investments, including costs for research and development.
The remaining 60% is to be distributed among the government and Eni—at 65% and 35% respectively.
The 40% repayment value will be provided to the foreign partner after finalising its investments, according to the agreement between EGAS and Eni.
