The Zohr field produced 12.2 bcm of natural gas in 2018, Russian energy giant Rosneft said on Thursday. The company, which holds a 30% stake in the Shorouk concession, reported that production in 2H2018 totaled 9.1 bcm, an almost three-fold increase from the 3.1 bcm produced in 1H2018. Field operator Eni expects output to continue its rapid rise in 2019, reaching 2.7 bcf/d by July as it adds new wells to production and brings the sixth gas processing facility online.

Zohr is key to Eni’s Middle East ambitions: As output continues to rise, Zohr is “key” to Eni’s broadening ambitions in the Middle East, Reuters says. In the nine months since it sold a 10% stake to Mubadala, the Italian company has inked multiple nine-figure upstream agreements with Gulf countries. “Zohr was used as a way in,” Mediobanca oil analyst Alessandro Pozzi told Reuters. “Since then the group has ramped up operations lightning fast in an area that has some of the world’s biggest resources.”