BP has started gas production from two fields in its West Nile Delta development offshore Egypt.

The Taurus and Libra fields, commissioned eight months ahead of schedule and under budget, are currently producing 700M cf/day of gas to the Egyptian national gas grid.

With five gas fields across the North Alexandria and West Mediterranean Deepwater offshore concession blocks, the West Nile Delta development is being developed as two separate projects.

Once fully operational in 2019, both projects can generate up to 1.5 billion cubic feet a day (bcf/d), which is equal to around 30% of current gas production in the country. All the generated gas will be connected to the national gas grid.

After securing final approval in 2015, the Taurus and Libra fields are being developed to generate more than 600 million standard cubic feet of gas a day (mmscf/d), which can be connected to the Egyptian national gas grid.

Taurus and Libra project is a subsea greenfield development with nine wells and a 42km tie back to the existing onshore processing facility, where gas reaches the Egyptian national gas grid through a nearby export pipeline.

The second West Nile Delta project is comprised of Giza, Fayoum and Raven fields, which feature 12 wells and two deep-water long distance subsea tie-backs to the shore.

BP group chief executive Bob Dudley said: “West Nile Delta is a strategic national project that will add significant gas production to the Egyptian market and is another example of BP’s commitment to Egypt.

“Our continuing investments in the country, including West Nile Delta, Atoll and our recent investment in Zohr, are laying the foundations for growth for BP in Egypt well into the future.”