Saipem signed EPCI contract for Zohr field

CAIRO – 31 July 2017: Italian oil and gas contractor Saipem signed a $900 million engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contract with state-owned Petrobel for the development of the Zohr gas field.

The scope of work will include installing 30 gas export pipelines, whose work will start this month, to be ended in 2018, Saipem said in a Monday statement.

“In the execution of this further phase of the development, we will deploy our most technologically advanced vessels and leverage our proven abilities and skills so that the achievement of the client’s requirements is ensured,” Saipem CEO Stefano Cao said in the statement.

Zohr gas field is the largest natural gas field ever found in the Mediterranean and was discovered in 2015 by the Italian energy company Eni. It lies in an area of 100 square meters at a depth of 1,450 meters.

Last month, Minister of Petroleum and Renewable Energy Tarek El-Molla said 71 percent of drilling and construction works in the Zohr gas field are complete. Production will start by the end of this year.

The Zohr gas field will start production through three phases. The first will be launched in a few months with an output of one billion cubic feet daily. After all seven fields are complete, that amount will increase by 2019 to 2.7 billion cubic meters daily.

Egyptian oil company Petrojet has finished manufacturing the maritime field control station, and it is being installed by Petroleum Marine Services Company.