Eni ramping up production at Egypt’s giant Zohr gas field

Italian energy giant Eni has brought up the second production unit (T-1) at its Zohr gas field in the Mediterranean Sea offshore Egypt.

This will increase installed capacity by 400 MMScfd, just 4 months after the field’s start-up, Eni said on Thursday.

Zohr now has a capacity of 800 MMscfd, equivalent to 150,000 boe per day.

The production ramp-up is planned to continue in order to reach 1.2 bcfd in May 2018, 2 bcfd by end 2018 and the production plateau (2.7 bcfd) in 2019, according to Eni,

The Zohr field, the largest gas discovery ever made in Egypt and in the Mediterranean Sea, is located within the Shorouk Block, some 190 km north of Port Said.

Zohr was discovered in August 2015, obtained the development lease approval in February 2016, and started the production in December 2017 with a time-to-market of 2.3 years.

“The latest achievement reinforces the exceptional development path of Zohr, one of Eni’s seven record-breaking projects, which is playing a fundamental role in supporting Egypt’s wish to cease LNG imports in 2018,” Eni said in its statement.

Eni holds a 60% stake in the Shorouk Block, Rosneft 30% and BP 10%. In March 2018, Eni agreed to sell a 10% stake in the concession to Mubadala Petroleum.

The project is executed by Petrobel, the operating company jointly held by Eni and the state corporation Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC), on behalf of Petroshorouk, jointly held by contractor (Eni and its partners) and the state company Egyptian Natural Gas holding Company (EGAS).