Italian
Eni has produced its first gas from the supergiant Zohr field in a record time
for this type of field of less than two and a half years, the company announced
Wednesday.
According
to the statement, the field, with potential resources in excess of 30 trillion cubic
feet of gas in place, or about 5.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent,
started-up in less than two and a half years from its discovery.
The
field is located in the Shorouk Block, offshore Egypt approximately 190
kilometers north of Port Said.
In
February 2016, Zohr, which was discovered in August 2015, obtained investment
authorization after just six months
"It
is the largest gas discovery ever made in Egypt and in the Mediterranean Sea,
and will be able to satisfy a part of Egypt’s natural gas demand for decades to
come," the company said.
Zohr
is one of Eni’s seven record-breaking projects, which have involved rapid
development and production, and is testament to the success of Eni’s Dual
Exploration Model, adopted in 2013.
According
to the announcement, the approach is based on a simple principle: while the
reserves of hydrocarbons grow through the exploration successes, Eni can
benefit from early monetization thanks to the sale of minority stakes, all
while maintaining operatorship of the asset.
"By
parallelizing exploration, appraisal and development phases, the time-to-market
is quicker, equity development cost are lowered, and Eni achieves an
accelerated cash flow. This winning combination allowed Eni to generate $9
billion from its exploration activities between 2014 and 2017," the
company said.
The
Italian company holds a 60 percent stake in the Shorouk Block, Russia's Rosneft
has a 30 percent share and BP has a 10 percent stake.
Eni
has been present in Egypt since 1954, where it operates through its subsidiary
IEOC Production BV. The company is the country’s main producer with an equity
production of approximately 230,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
(Anadolu Agency)