Zohr officially came to life yesterday: Eni announced the production of first gas from the supergiant Zohr field. The Italian company says the production was reached in “record time for this type of field of less than two and a half years.” CEO Claudio Descalzi says Zohr, which is estimated to hold 30 tcf of gas, “will completely transform Egypt’s energy landscape, allowing it to become self-sufficient and to turn from an importer of natural gas into a future exporter. I would like to thank the Egyptian Authorities and all our Partners in this incredible project for their all-important contributions and the whole Egyptian petroleum sector which provided full support to achieve Zohr project in a record time.” Eni holds a 60% stake in Zohr, with Rosneft controlling 30%, and BP 10%. BP North Africa Regional President Hesham Mekawi also praised the speed at which Zohr is being developed, saying: “the development of Zohr in a record time has brought a new critical source of energy to the Egyptian market. BP’s two other current major projects in Egypt – Atoll and the second phase of the West Nile Delta project – will bring further new gas resources into production. Together these projects will play an important role in supporting and reshaping Egypt’s energy sector.” BP said that the launch of production from Zohr completes is program of starting up seven major upstream projects in 2017, according to Reuters.

Since actual production started on Saturday, the foreign press has jumped on Zohr as an Egypt success story. Forbes Middle East notes the change to Egypt’s energy dynamics and its eventual transition to exporter, while UPI is stressing the speed with which production has started almost two years after discovery.