Report: Eni’s Zohr gas find could spark eastern Mediterranean development
The massive Zohr gas discovery found offshore Egypt earlier this year by Eni (NYSE:E) has been seen as a major competitor to Israel’s Leviathan field discovered by Noble Energy (NYSE:NBL) in 2010, but a new report research firm GlobalData says it actually could provide the catalyst needed to ignite broader development of the entire eastern Mediterranean.
But Eni may be able to move faster than NBL and spend less to develop its project because it has the backing of top Egyptian leaders including Pres. Al-Sisi, according to GlobalData.
The report expects Zohr, which could hold as much as 22T cf of natural gas, could cost ~$7.7B to develop, similar to Eni’s estimates of $7B-$10B, while Leviathan, estimated to contain about half as much gas at 12.5T cf, likely will cost ~$8.9B to bring online.
