Vast reserves of natural gas found off the coast of Egypt
The Italian energy company Eni S.p.A. announced on Sunday that it has discovered a “supergiant” natural gas field off the coast of Egypt, describing it as the “largest ever” found in the Mediterranean Sea.
Eni’s chief executive, Claudio Descalzi, met on Saturday in Cairo with President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt, according to Mr. Sisi’s office.
Eni said the discovery, made in its Zohr prospect “in the deep waters of Egypt,” could hold a potential 30 trillion cubic feet of gas over an area of about 40 square miles.
The discovery well is about 120 miles from the Egyptian coast, at a depth of 4,757 feet, in the Shorouk block, the company said. The block is about 66 miles from Port Said.
“Zohr is the largest gas discovery ever made in Egypt and in the Mediterranean Sea and could become one of the world’s largest natural gas finds,” Eni said in a statement. “The discovery, after its full development, will be able to ensure satisfying Egypt’s natural gas demand for decades.”
The energy company added: “Eni will immediately appraise the field with the aim of accelerating a fast-track development of the discovery.”
In the statement, Mr. Descalzi said that the discovery reconfirmed that Egypt still has “great potential” in terms of energy production. “Important synergies with the existing infrastructures can be exploited, allowing us a fast production start-up,” he said.
Eni has been in Egypt since 1954 through its subsidiary IEOC. It is the main hydrocarbon producer in Egypt, the company said, with a daily equity production of 200,000 barrels of oil equivalent.
Source: The New York Times
Date: August 2015
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