2nd phase of Zohr gas field to be completed before year-end

CAIRO – 29 April 2018: The second phase of Egypt’s giant Zohr gas field will be completed before year-end and will add around two billion cubic feet per day to production, Petroleum Minister Tarek el-Molla said on Sunday.

In a seminar organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt (AmCham), Molla said that the third phase will be completed by the beginning of 2019, saying that development works of the field took 22 months, instead of 27, which is considered a “real achievement”.

He said that 2017 saw major petroleum discoveries as well as the signing of the maritime demarcation agreement between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which will allow
Egypt to make use of the unexplored areas of the Red Sea.

Molla further said that his ministry targets $10 billion in investments before year-end.
He added that the gradual slashing of energy subsidies has helped reduce consumption of petroleum products by three percent last year.

Zohr gas field was discovered in 2015 by Italian energy company Eni. In December, the company delivered the first gas from the field, whose estimated 30 trillion cubic feet makes it the biggest gas field in the Mediterranean.

Eni announced last week the start of the second production line of Zohr. Production of the field is scheduled to reach 1.2 billion cubic feet per day in May and two billion cubic feet per day by the end of 2018, amassing 2.7 billion cubic feet per day.

An official source at the petroleum sector said earlier this month that Egypt plans to boost production from its giant offshore Zohr gas field to 700 million cubic feet a day in May and to 1.8 billion cubic feet a day in September.

Egypt’s gas production currently stands at 5.5 billion cubic feet a day, after adding some 1.6 million cubic feet as a result of starting production from several projects.

The country's total natural gas consumption is about six billion cubic feet per day, of which roughly 65 percent goes to the electricity sector.

The new discoveries are expected to turn Egypt into a net exporter of natural gas from a net importer.

Egypt plans to stop importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) by the end of the 2017/18 fiscal year ending in June as it accelerates production at a number of newly-discovered gas fields, Molla said in January.