Back to the complete issue
Wednesday, 27 June 2018

Is Eni about to announce a natural gas discovery 3x the size of Zohr?

Is Eni about to announce a natural gas discovery 3x the size of Zohr? Italy’s Eni could unlock as much as 90 tcf of natural gas reserves from the Noor field in the offshore North Sinai Shorouk concession, Gulf-based Arab News writes, citing a combination of ministry sources and recent remarks by former oil minister Osama Kamal. That would make it about 3x the size of the supergiant Zohr gas field, if true. (The key is paragraph four, so make sure you scroll down if you’re hitting up the link.) Kamal said in a televised interview her expects the government to announce new gas discoveries in the East Mediterranean in just a “few days” (watch, runtime: 20:21).

Background: The Cabinet had approved last month a USD 105 mn exploration campaign in the Mediterranean off the coast of North Sinai by Eni and Tharwa. Reports last week said that Eni was planning to invest as much as USD 3 bn in Egypt in the coming period as production ramps up at the Zohr and Nooros fields. Eni and Tharwa Petroleum are planning to begin drilling their first exploratory well in the Noor gas field before the end of August after obtaining final permits, an Oil Ministry source tells Youm7. Eni, which holds an 85% stake in the concession, is expecting to complete seismic studies of the area in a few weeks’ time. Egypt has just about achieved natural gas sufficiency and has plans to begin exports by 4Q2018 or 1Q2019.

Enterprise is a daily publication of Enterprise Ventures LLC, an Egyptian limited liability company (commercial register 83594), and a subsidiary of Inktank Communications. Summaries are intended for guidance only and are provided on an as-is basis; kindly refer to the source article in its original language prior to undertaking any action. Neither Enterprise Ventures nor its staff assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, whether in the form of summaries or analysis. © 2022 Enterprise Ventures LLC.

Enterprise is available without charge thanks to the generous support of HSBC Egypt (tax ID: 204-901-715), the leading corporate and retail lender in Egypt; EFG Hermes (tax ID: 200-178-385), the leading financial services corporation in frontier emerging markets; SODIC (tax ID: 212-168-002), a leading Egyptian real estate developer; SomaBay (tax ID: 204-903-300), our Red Sea holiday partner; Infinity (tax ID: 474-939-359), the ultimate way to power cities, industries, and homes directly from nature right here in Egypt; CIRA (tax ID: 200-069-608), the leading providers of K-12 and higher level education in Egypt; Orascom Construction (tax ID: 229-988-806), the leading construction and engineering company building infrastructure in Egypt and abroad; Moharram & Partners (tax ID: 616-112-459), the leading public policy and government affairs partner; Palm Hills Developments (tax ID: 432-737-014), a leading developer of commercial and residential properties; Mashreq (tax ID: 204-898-862), the MENA region’s leading homegrown personal and digital bank; Industrial Development Group (IDG) (tax ID:266-965-253), the leading builder of industrial parks in Egypt; Hassan Allam Properties (tax ID:  553-096-567), one of Egypt’s most prominent and leading builders; and Saleh, Barsoum & Abdel Aziz (tax ID: 220-002-827), the leading audit, tax and accounting firm in Egypt.