Italian oil and gas major Eni has bagged rights for two onshore exploration blocks - South East Siwa and West Sherbean in Egypt through two separate bidding rounds.

Oil Pumps

Image: Egyptian authorities awarded Eni two onshore exploration blocks. Photo: courtesy of Dani Simmonds/Freeimages.com.

Eni won the South East Siwa block, all on its own, after prevailing in the EGPC 2018 competitive bid round.

Spread over an area of 3,013km2, the onshore block is located in the Western Desert near the company’s SW Melehia Concession, where two commercial oil discoveries have been made. Preparations are underway for the development plans of the two discoveries.

The second exploration block won by Eni is the West Sherbean block, which is in a 50:50 consortium with BP. Eni will be the operator of the block, which has been won during the  EGAS 2018 competitive bid round.

Located in Nile Delta, the West Sherbean block is immediately southwest of the new Nile Delta concession awarded to the company in August 2018, which contains the producing Nooros field.

The West Sherbean block is spread over an area of 1,535km2.

The Italian oil and gas giant said that successful exploration of the two blocks will help in utilizing existing or under construction infrastructures for their fast exploitation.

The company, in a statement, said: “These new concessions further strengthen Eni’s position in Egypt where the company operates through its subsidiary Ieoc since 1954. The company is the country’s leading producer with equity above 330,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.”

Eni’s major production activities in Egypt are contained in the Gulf of Suez through the production of oil and condensates, and in the Nile Delta concessions, which primarily produce gas.

The company, through IEOC, holds a 50% stake in the Shorouk Block which contains the supergiant Zohr gas field.

The Zohr field, which is claimed to be the largest gas discovery in Egypt and also in the Mediterranean Sea, is estimated to hold up to 30 trillion cubic feet of gas in place.

In December 2018, Eni secured the Egyptian government approval to sell 45% stake in the Nour North Sinai Offshore concession (Nour block) to Mubadala Petroleum and BP. Following the completion of the transactions, the Italian company has reduced its stake in the offshore Egyptian block to 40%.