Brussels, 31/08/2015 (Agence Europe) - Italian energy group Eni announced on Sunday 30 August that it had discovered a massive gas field, which it claims to be the largest ever found in the Mediterranean, in the territorial waters of Egypt.
The Zohr gas field is over 1,450 metres beneath the surface and 190 kilometres from Port Said. According to Eni, it covers 100 square kilometres and could hold 850 billion cubic metres of gas. It would, then, be larger than the Leviathan field discovered in 2010 off Israel, ownership of which is being disputed among Israel, Cyprus and Lebanon.
Eni has a strong presence in Egypt where it has been carrying out explorations since it was set up in 1953 and has full concession rights to the area. Since the operating costs will be relatively low, it plans to have only one partner: the Egyptian national oil and gas company. Eni has announced that it hopes to begin initial drilling early in 2016 though it has made no comment on when it expects to start supplying gas, which is unlikely to be before 2017 at the earliest.
The Italian group also highlighted the impact of the discovery for Egypt, whose energy needs, Eni says, could be met for decades to come thanks to Zohr. President of the Italian Council Matteo Renzi has discussed the impact of the discovery on Mediterranean energy stability and the prospects for the development of the region in a telephone conversation with incumbent Egyptian Prime Minister and former head of the country's armed forces Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Egypt, heavily dependent on LNG imports, regularly suffers from electricity shortages, a factor in the unpopularity of former Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi, who was ousted by the army in July 2013. Since then, reform of the energy sector has been one of al-Sisi's priority areas. (Emmanuel Hagry)