Eni and partners have commenced production from the second production unit (T-1) of the Zohr gas project in the Shorouk Block, offshore Egypt.
The commissioning of the second production unit is expected to boost the installed capacity of the Zohr development by 400MMScfd. Currently, the offshore Egyptian gas field has a capacity of 800MMscfd, equivalent to 150,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed), said Eni whose share out of that will be 46,000boed.
The Italian multinational oil and gas company said that ramp up of production will go on as planned, with an objective to achieve 1.2bcfd in May 2018, 2bcfd by the year-end and the production plateau of 2.7bcfd in 2019.
Eni, in a statement, said: “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.”
Discovered in August 2015, Zohr is considered to be the largest gas discovery in Egyptian and Mediterranean Sea history. The Zohr gas field, which has been put into production in last December, is expected to meet a part of Egypt’s natural gas demand for years to come.
Eni owns a stake of 60% stake in Shorouk Block which contains the gas field while Rosneft and BP own 30% and 10% stakes, respectively.
Russian oil giant Rosneft entered into the Shorouk Block through a $1.58bn deal with Eni in December 2016. BP is the recent entrant in the Shorouk Block after it acquired its 10% stake from Eni in February 2017.
Last month, Eni agreed to sell 10% of its stake in the concession to UAE-based Mubadala Petroleum for $934m. The Italian firm is co-operator of the project through Petrobel, its joint venture with Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC).
Eni has been operating in Egypt since more than 60 years through its subsidiary IEOC. It has an equity share of nearly 250,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day from its production interests in Egypt.