Eni discovers ‘supergiant’ gas field offshore Egypt

Italian oil and gas company Eni has made what it describes as a world-class supergiant gas discovery at its Zohr Prospect, in the deep waters of Egypt.

The discovery well Zohr 1X NFW is located in the economic waters of Egypt’s Offshore Mediterranean, in 4,757 feet of water depth (1,450 metres), in the Shorouk Block.

According to the well and seismic information available, the discovery could hold a potential of 30 trillion cubic feet of lean gas in place (5.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent in place) covering an area of about 100 square kilometres.

“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. This exploration success will give a major contribution in satisfying Egypt’s natural gas demand for decades,” Eni said in a statement on Sunday, August 30.

Eni said it would appraise the field with the aim of accelerating a fast track development of the discovery that will utilise at best the existing offshore and onshore infrastructures.

Zohr 1X NFW was drilled to a total depth of approximately 13,553 feet (4,131 metres) and hit 2,067 feet (630 metres) of hydrocarbon column in a carbonate sequence of Miocene age with excellent reservoir characteristics (400 metres plus of net pay). Zohr’s structure has also a deeper Cretaceous upside that will be targeted in the future with a dedicated well.

Eni’s CEO, Claudio Descalzi, said: “It’s a very important day for Eni and its people. This outstanding result confirms our expertise and our technological innovation capacity with immediate operational application, and above all shows the strength of the cooperation spirit amongst all the company’s units which are at the foundation of our great successes. Our exploration strategy allows us to persist in the mature areas of countries which we have known for decades and has proved to be winning, reconfirming that Egypt has still great potential.

“This historic discovery will be able to transform the energy scenario of Egypt in which we have been welcomed for over 60 years. The exploration activities are central to our growth strategy: in the last 7 years we have discovered 10 billion barrels of resources and 300 million in the first half of the year, confirming Eni’s leading position in the industry. This exploration success acquires an even greater value as it was made in Egypt which is strategic for Eni, and where important synergies with the existing infrastructures can be exploited allowing us a fast production startup,” Descalzi added.

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