Petroleum min. chairs meeting to follow up work on Zohr gas field

Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Tarek el Molla presided over a meeting of the higher committee tasked with following up the development of Zohr gas field in the Mediterranean Sea.

Experimental operation of the field started in December and gas was pumped into the national networks.

Molla hailed the companies in charge of implementing development work at the field and their commitment to the production schedule, according to a statement issued by the Petroleum Ministry on Thursday.

Chairman of Petrobel Company Atef Hassan reviewed the achievements attained on the ground to operate the offshore wells, continue the drilling operations and work on transferring the produced gas from wells to the onshore processing stations which is being carried out by Petroleum Marine Services and Saipem companies.

Molla stressed the importance of continuing coordination among the firms responsible for implementing the project and finding solutions to any obstacles hindering the venture.

Zohr is an offshore natural gas field located in the Egyptian sector of the Mediterranean Sea. The field is located in the Shorouk concession, a concession with an area of 3,765 square kilometers (1,454 sq mi), which was won by Italian energy company Eni in 2013. The field is estimated to lie in an area of 100 square kilometers (39 sq mi) and it is located at a depth of 1,450 meters (4,760 ft). It was discovered in 2015 by Eni and is the largest ever natural gas find in the Mediterranean Sea, almost twice the size of the nearby Leviathan gas field. The total gas in place of the Zohr gas field is around 850 billion cubic meters (30 trillion cubic feet). According to estimates Zohr will almost double Egypt’s gas reserves. (MENA)