Initial production from Egypt’s giant Zohr gas field was confirmed by British Petroleum (BP) on Wednesday. The field, which is the Mediterranean’s largest natural gas discovery to date, is operated by Eni through its joint venture with the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC). Eni holds a 60% stake in Shorouk Block, where the field is located, in addition to Rosneft (30%), and BP (10%).
Eni has produced its first gas from the Zohr field in a record time for this type of field, specifically, less than two and a half years.
According to a press release by BP, the first delivery of gas from Zohr completes BP’s programme of seven upstream major project startups in 2017.
“We are proud to have worked with Eni, Rosneft, and the Egyptian government to deliver a project that is strategically important for Egypt and will help meet the country’s growing energy demand,” said Bob Dudley, BP group chief executive.
The Zohr gas field was discovered by Eni in August 2015 and is estimated toup to 30tn cubic feet of gas. The initial production rate of Zohr is around 350m standard cubic feet per day (mscf/d), which will increase Egypt’s current production from 5.1bn cubic feet per day (bcf/d) to 5.4 bcf/d, according to Petroleum Minister Tarek El Molla’s statement on Saturday.
“It will completely transform Egypt’s energy landscape, allowing it to become self-sufficient and to turn from an importer of natural gas into a future exporter,” Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi commented on Wednesday.
On the other hand, Attia Mahmoud Attia, professor of petroleum engineering and international energy expert, told Daily News Egypt that Zohr’s effect will not be noticeable before the end of 2018, after the completion of the field’s first development phase, and production from the six wells drilled to officially begin, which would increase production levels to up to 1 bcf/d.
