Italian energy major ENI said on August 30 it has discovered what it described as the “largest-ever” Mediterranean Sea natural gas field offshore Egypt. A day earlier, ENI CEO Claudio Descalzi met in Cairo with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.
ENI said the discovery, which was made in its Zohr prospect “in the deep waters of Egypt,” could hold 849 billion cubic metres of gas, covering an area of about 100 square kilometres. The field could meet Egypt’s domestic demand for decades, casting doubt over an agreement with Israel.
According to the estimates, the Zohr gas field would be significantly larger than Israel’s biggest field Leviathan, which is approximately 621 billion cubic metres.
The discovery well is 190 kilometres from the Egyptian coast, and is at a depth of 1,450 metres in the Shorouk Block.
“Zohr is the largest gas discovery ever made in Egypt and in the Mediterranean Sea and could become one of the world’s largest natural gas finds,” ENI said in a statement. “The discovery, after its full development, will be able to ensure satisfying Egypt’s natural gas demand for decades.” Egypt’s energy demand is rising as the Arab world’s largest population grows, making the country more reliant on imports provided by Persian Gulf states. “ENI will immediately appraise the field with the aim of accelerating a fast-track development of the discovery,” the energy company said.
ENI will likely sell most of the fuel into Egypt’s domestic market, before any export plans are discussed. This will also put a damper on Israeli plans to export gas to Egypt.
Companies including Houston-based Noble Energy, which are developing gas fields in Israel, have been pushing plans to export the fuel to Egypt since the start of the year. Israel’s Delek Group and partners in the Tamar field signed an export contract with Egyptian buyers in March.
“The giant gas field discovery in Egypt is a painful reminder that while Israel has been ‘sleepwalking’ and delaying the final approval of the gas outline and holding up further exploration, the world is changing in front of our eyes, including the implications on export possibilities,” Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz was quoted as saying.
Experts told New Europe that ENI’s discovery would have implications because it will cover a big part of Egypt’s energy market. “It’s a complex issue. It will depend on the agreements signed. Until recently the situation in Israel was completely vague,” an expert with knowledge of the issue said. “Overall it’s a positive development. It reinforces the original estimates by US geological survey in Cyprus.”
Part of the output from the newly discovered Egyptian field could be shipped to Italy or other destinations as liquefied natural gas (LNG), La Repubblica quoted Descalzi as saying. ENI is a partner in a plant at Damietta on the Mediterranean coast that chills gas until it transforms into a liquid so that it can be loaded on vessels and transported to buyers not connected by pipelines. The facility hasn’t been operating for lack of gas, Descalzi said.
He said the discovery reconfirms that Egypt still has great potential energy-wise. “Important synergies with the existing infrastructures can be exploited, allowing us a fast production startup,” he said.
ENI has been in Egypt since 1954 through its subsidiary IEOC. It is the main hydrocarbon producer in Egypt, with a daily equity production of 200,000 barrels of oil equivalent, the company said. Egypt’s petroleum ministry said the find was equal to about a third of Egypt’s current gas reserves. “The Egyptian government is very happy with this find,” ministry spokesman Hamdi Abdelaziz said, adding that the gas would be extracted for domestic consumption only. “We hope to become self-sufficient by 2020.” The government cannot yet place a monetary value on the discovery, he said.
http://www.neurope.eu/article/eni-discovers-huge-gas-field-offshore-egypt/