Eni Gets Go-Ahead to Develop Egypt's Giant Zohr Gas Field

Eni announced Sunday that it has completed the authorization process for the development of the giant Zohr natural gas field, offshore Egypt. Zohr, which is estimated to hold up to 30 trillion cubic feet of gas, is the largest gas discovery made in the Mediterranean Sea.

The Italian oil firm said that the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources approved the grant to it of a development lease by Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS). This approval means that the gas field, located in the Shorouk Concession, can now be developed by Eni.

The development plan envisages the start of production by the end of 2017, just two years after Zohr's discovery. Production is expected to ramp up to a volume of approximately 2.65 billion cubic feet of gas per day by 2019. Eni said the quick realization of such a large project is possible thanks to cooperation between it and its contractors Petroject, Enppi and Saipem.

The discovery of Zohr was announced at the end of August last year, following the drilling of the Zohr-1 well. Eni is currently drilling Zohr-2 – the discovery's first appraisal well. In the weeks following the discovery of Zohr, Egypt awarded a four new licenses to explore for hydrocarbons off its Mediterranean coast.