Italy’s Eni, and its partners have reached a new production milestone at the Zohr field located off the coast of Egypt, ahead of schedule by increasing production capacity by more than 25%.
Image: The new production milestone was achieved following the start-up of the fifth production unit (T4). Photo: courtesy of num_skyman/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
Located within the offshore Shorouk Block about 190km north of Port Said, the field is now producing more than 2 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd), equivalent to approximately 365,000 barrel of oil equivalent per day (boed).
The new production milestone was achieved following the start-up of the fifth production unit (T4), backed by the eight gas producers and a new 30”x218km sealine which was commissioned last month at the field.
Eni said in a statement: “The latest achievement reinforces the exceptional development path of the Zohr project, one of Eni’s seven record-breaking projects, which is playing a fundamental role in supporting Egypt’s independence from LNG imports.”
The firm said that the development of the Zohr field is going one year ahead of the schedule of the Plan of Development (PoD).
Claimed to be the largest gas discovery ever made in Egypt and in the Mediterranean Sea, the Zohr field is estimated to have a total potential of up to 30 trillion cubic feet of gas in place.
Eni has 50% stake in the Shorouk Block while other partners include Rosneft with 30% interest, BP with 10% stake while and Mubadala Petroleum has 10% stake in the contractor’s share. Eni, Rosneft, BP and Mubadala Petroleum are collectivity the contractor.
The project is being executed by Petrobel, a joint venture between Eni and Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC).
By the end of 2019, the field is expected to reach a production capacity of 2.7 bcf per day. It is being developed in phases with the first phase involving the development of six production wells.
Under the full development plan, the partners will drill a total of 254 wells over the field’s production life.
The project involves construction and installation of an offshore control and production platform which will further be connected via subsea pipelines to an onshore processing plant.