Eni, Tharwa to start gas exploration in N.Sinai in 2 months: Oil Ministry

CAIRO - 28 June 2018: Spokesman for the Petroleum Ministry Hamdi Abdel Aziz announced on Thursday that Italian oil company Eni and Egyptian Tharwa Petroleum Company are expected to start in two months drilling the first exploratory well in the Noor maritime concession area in North Sinai.

Speaking to MENA, Abdel Aziz said the oil and gas exploration works will begin in North Sinai's Noor Concession in the Mediterranean Sea following the parliament's approval of a deal on oil and gas exploration activities in the area.

As soon as the agreement is ratified, an exploratory well will be drilled to identify indicators for concession areas and the number of wells to be drilled in the following stages, he added.

Noor field is in the offshore North Sinai Shorouk concession with 90 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of natural gas reserves, three times bigger than Zohr gas field.