Zohr natgas output to surpass 3 bcf/d this month - ENTERPRISE

Wednesday, 16 October 2019

Zohr natgas production to exceed 3 bcf/d this month: Production from the 13 wells at the giant Zohr natural gas field is expected to surpass 3 bcf/d by the end of October, up from 2.7 bcf/d in August, Eni IEOC JV boss Luca De Caro said on the sidelines of the Mediterranean Offshore Conference in Alexandria, the Oil Ministry said in a statement. Eni originally estimated that production would peak at 2.7 bcf/d, but the ministry said earlier this year that output would rise above 3 bcf/d in 2019.

More wells on the horizon: Eni plans to drill 11 exploration wells in the Nile Delta, Western Desert and the Gulf of Suez regions this year and nine other wells in the coming year, De Caro said. Eni has also been producing 1.2 bcf/d of natural gas from its Nooros gas field since the end of 2017 when the two phases of the project were completed. High profile representatives from BP, Wintershall DEA, Shell and Edison also attended the conference, which kicked off yesterday.

15th well from Nooros gas field comes online - ENTERPRISE

Wednesday, 18 July 2018

The 15th well at the Nooros gas field has come online, pumping an additional 180 mcf/d into the national grid, the Oil Ministry announced yesterday. The Nedco well allows production from the Nooros field to remain steady at 1.2 bcf/d. On a related note, Eni and EGPC JV Belayim Petroleum Company (Petrobel) — which completed work on the well in record timing of under two months — reportedly intends to pump an additional 0.5 bcf/d into the national gas grid by mid-2019, as it brings its South Balteem well online, sources tell Youm7.

Noor reserves will rank among the largest gas fields: Eni - EGYPT INDEPENDENT / AL MASRY AL YOUM

June 24, 2018
1:33 pm

Sources from the Ministry of Oil said on Saturday that the ministry has discussed new exploration plans for the Noor gas field in the Shorok concession area of the Mediterranean Sea with the Italian multinational company Eni which sees it ranked among the largest gas fields worldwide.

According to sources, the Noor field reserves are expected to reach over 90 trillion cubic feet, three times that of the Zohr Field reserves (TEKMOR Note: Not confirmed yet via a second source).

Eni’s CEO Claudio Descalzi held a meeting with Minister of Oil Tarek al-Mula on Saturday, and said that his company has allocated 70 percent of its global investments to Egypt.

Descalzi added Eni has injected $8.4 billion in the Nawras and Zohr gas fields in Egypt, and that Eni will inject a further $3 billion.

Oil expert Ahmed Abdel Halim told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the large amount of Eni’s investments going towards gas explorations in Egypt indicates the massive explorations carried out by the company.

Did Eni pledge USD 3 bn in investments in Egypt? Plus: We could be exporting natural gas by year’s end, early 2019 - ENTERPRISE

Sunday, 24 June 2018

INVESTMENT WATCH- Did Eni pledge USD 3 bn in investments in Egypt? Eni plans to allocate USD 3 bn in new investments in Egypt over “the coming period,” Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi said, according to a purported statement from the Oil Ministry floating around in the local press on Thursday. The company’s investments in the fields of Nooros and Zohr now stood at USD 8.4 bn, Descalzi reportedly said during a sit down with Oil Minister Tarek El Molla.

Eni is also keen on exploring possible projects in renewable energy, Descalzi said in a meeting with President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, according to an Ittihadiya statement. While the statement gave no detail, it is likely that Descalzi is speaking of building a 50 MW solar power plant in the Red Sea’s Abu Redis to sell power directly to consumers under an independent power producer (IPP) framework. Eni was one of five companies that had submitted proposals back in April to build under the IPP framework.

Mubadala enters Egypt with Zohr acquisition: Descalzi’s statements come a day after Eni finalized a 10% stake sale in the Shorouk concession, which holds the Zohr gas field, to the UAE’s Mubadala Petroleum, according to a statement from the Oil Ministry. The USD 934 mn agreement, which was signed by Eni in March, now sees Eni’s share through its JV with the Oil Ministry IEOC fall to 50%, with Rosneft holding a 30% and BP taking 10% alongside Mubadala’s 10%. More reading: Eni statement’s (pdf) on the transaction.

Nooros’ 14th well pumps additional 180 mcf/d into national grid as it comes online - ENTERPRISE

Monday, 28 May 2018

The 14th well at the Nooros gas field has come online, pumping an additional 180 mcf/d into the national grid, the Oil Ministry announced yesterday. 

The Nedoco field, which was completed in record timing of under two months, brings total production from Nooros to 1.2 bcf/d.

Eni strengthens record production from Nooros field offshore Egypt - ENI

15/03/2018 10:00

The Nooros field represents to date Eni’s main gas producing field in its Egyptian asset portfolio as well as an example of the success of the company’s integrated model

San Donato Milanese (Milan), 15 March 2018 - Eni has strengthened its record production from the Nooros gas field, offshore Egypt, which reached a production of 32 million cubic meters per day, equivalent to around 215,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed). This production level represents the highest ever recorded by an Eni field in Egypt in the last 50 years.

This significant result has been reached thanks to the start-up of the NW-7 well, the thirteenth drilled within this field. Production levels will increase further by June 2018 when a fourteenth well, currently under drilling, will start-up. This is expected to allow Eni to reach 34 million cubic meters per day of production, equivalent to around 230,000 boed.

Nooros field’s 13th well comes online, adding 90 mcf/d of production - ENTERPRISE

Wednesday, 14 March 2018

The 13th well of the Nooros gas field has come online, bringing an additional 90 mcf/d to the national grid. This would bring the field’s total production to 1.15 bcf/d, according to a report by Eni and EGPC JV Belayim Petroleum Company (Petrobel), Al Masry Al Youm reports. 

The field’s 14th well is underway, which is expected to raise total production capacity to 1.2 bcf/d.

Egypt to accelerate Zohr gas field development, to be completed one year ahead of schedule - ENERGY EGYPT / AHRAM ONLINE / ENTERPRISE

February 4, 2018

Egypt to complete development on Zohr one year ahead of schedule: Egypt will complete the development of the Zohr gasfield at the beginning of 2019, instead of the end of the year, Oil Minister Tarek El Molla said on Thursday, according to Reuters. Egypt had been speeding up the development of the giant gasfield, with early phase production commencing ahead of schedule last December. Speedy development of the field had helped Egypt move forward its plans to cut imports of LNG from late 2018 to July.

5 projects achieve natural gas self-sufficiency for Egypt in 2018 - DAILY NEWS EGYPT

January 29, 2018

The Ministry of Petroleum aims to increase its production of natural gas by working to make five gas projects operational, on top of which comes the completion of Zohr gas field’s first phase and beginning the second phase of the Northern Alexandria West Delta deep field.

The ministry plans to complete the first phase of Zohr development project in the deep waters of the Mediterranean in June, and for production to gradually reach over 1bn cubic feet of gas per day, up by some 700m cubic feet per day now, after announcing early production from the well.

The giant Zohr field is among the most important discoveries achieved by the petroleum sector in recent years. The find was made by the Italian company Eni in August 2015, with reserves of some 40tn cubic feet of gas. It is expected to help Egypt surpass its sharp gap in energy supplies. The first phase of the project costs about $5bn.

Egypt's Zohr: Towards self-sufficiency in gas? - AHRAM ONLINE

Friday 5 Jan 2018
Amany Ismail

Egypt’s Zohr Field, the largest offshore natural gas field in the Mediterranean, started production on 16 December. It could prove to be a permanent remedy to Egypt’s power needs and bring it closer to the goal of self-sufficiency in the energy sector in 2018.

Egypt Begins Production on Largest Undersea Gas Field in Mediterranean - VOA

December 18, 2017 3:00 PM
Edward Yeranian

CAIRO —

Egypt's economic prospects are looking brighter after the long-anticipated production of undersea gas from the al Zohr gas field began coming online in recent days.

Petroleum Minister Tareq al Molla tells Arab media the al Zohr field will be a major boon for the economy, saving $750 million to possibly several billion dollars a year in energy costs.

He says that the giant al Zohr gas field has a reserve of 30 trillion cubic feet and the first phase of production of 1.2 billion cubic feet per day is expected to be reached around mid 2018, with production being ramped up to 2.7 billion cubic feet per day by mid- to late 2019.

Italy's ENI petroleum company is heading production of the al Zohr field, while the BP company is overseeing production of another large undersea gas field off Egypt's Nile Delta region, known as al Nooros.

Oil Ministry expecting Egypt’s natgas output to reach 6.4 bcf/d by mid-2018 - ENTERPRISE

Mid Case Supply / Demand forecast for Egypt (Bcfd)

Wednesday, 13 December 2017

Egypt’s natural gas output is expected to reach 6.4 bcf/d by mid-2018, by which time Zohr will be producing 750 mcf/d and the Nooros gas field will be producing 100 mcf/d, Oil Ministry sources tell Al Borsa. 

Oil Minister Tarek El Molla had previously said natural gas output will reach 6.2 bcf/d by the end of FY2017-18, and that Egypt will reach self-sufficiency by the end of 2018. 

Egypt currently produces 5.2 bcf/d of natural gas.

Door still open for East Med-Egypt gas - PETROLEUM ECONOMIST

24 November 2017

Gina Cohen

Despite the country's natural gas sector booming, it could eventually need to import the fuel again

On 14 November, Egypt's oil minister Tarek El-Molla, told Bloomberg that "Egypt will stop importing liquefied natural gas in 2018 and may eventually export gas". This statement appeared to signal an end to the prospect of Eastern Mediterranean gas exports—from Israel and Cyprus—finding a market in Egypt. In Israel, much of the media interpreted his remarks as a sign that the country's hopes of exporting gas from the offshore Leviathan and Tamar gas fields to Egypt were dead.

At present, it's hard to imagine a day when Egypt would again be looking abroad for supplies. The second half of 2018 will be a golden moment, with its legacy gasfields still producing strongly, and the first phase of the mega-giant offshore Zohr field ramping up towards full production of around 76m cubic metres a day.

On the export front, even today, despite the shortage of gas supply for the local market, Egypt has allowed small volumes of liquefied natural gas sales, via Shell's Idku facility (0.8bn cm/d in 2016 and an expected 1.2bn cm/d in 2017).

Nooros exceeds natural gas production targets - ENTERPRISE

Sunday, 29 October 2017

The Nooros natural gas field daily production capacity reached 1.1 bcf/d, exceeding the targeted 350-400 mfc/d, Oil Minister Tarek El Molla said in a TV interview yesterday, Al Shorouk reports. 

The cost of investment in the gas field, which Italy’s Eni signed the concession for at the 2015 Economic Development Conference, also rounded off to USD 270 mn, below the projected USD 450 mn, El Molla added.

USD 27.3 bn to be invested in gas fields, USD 15.5 bn worth of exploration agreements to be signed next year - ENTERPRISE

Wednesday, 25 October 2017

USD 27.3 bn to be invested in gas fields next year: Some 230 new wells will be drilled at a cost of USD 2 bn in 2018, while approximately USD 27.3 bn will be invested in the Zohr, North Alexandria, and Nooros fields, Oil Minister Tarek El Molla said yesterday, Al Shorouk reports. 

El Molla also forecasts signing 83 new exploration agreements worth a total of USD 15.5 bn, in addition to USD 3.8 bn worth of new petroleum refining projects. 

Natural gas projects are expected to increase 50% in 2018, with that rate accelerating to 100% by 2020, El Molla said. The minister also announced that the second edition of the Egypt Petroleum Show will kick off on 12 February 2018 to showcase short- and long-term plans in the oil and gas sector.

Egypt Rushes Maritime Negotiations, Making Way For Offshore Discoveries - HART ENERGY

Wednesday, August 2, 2017 - 1:36pm
Abdelghani Henni

Egypt is speeding up negotiations with neighboring countries to finalize the demarcation of borders in the Mediterranean, which holds huge natural gas reserves compared to the Red Sea.

The country has initiated talks with Greece to draw the maritime border, according to local sources. Egypt and Cyprus are also expected to sign the official border agreement in the next few weeks. In addition, the country plans to intensify seismic activities in the Red Sea following the agreement with Saudi Arabia.

In early June, Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El-Molla said the Ganoub El Wadi Petroleum Holding Co. agreed with five international oil companies six months ago to conduct a $750 million seismic survey in the Red Sea to prepare reports on the reserves of oil and gas in the territorial waters after the demarcation of the border with Saudi Arabia.

UPDATE 1-Egypt sets sights on doubling natural gas output by 2020 - REUTERS

JULY 17, 2017 / 12:22 PMReporting by Ehab Farouk; Writing by Amina Ismail; editing by Patrick Markey and Adrian Croft

CAIRO, July 17 (Reuters) - Three recently discovered major gas fields are expected to raise Egypt's natural gas output by 50 percent in 2018 and 100 percent in 2020, the petroleum ministry said.

"The fields of Zohr, North Alexandria and Nooros are among the most important projects that will increase natural gas production ... and will contribute to (Egypt’s) natural gas self-sufficiency by the end of 2018," Petroleum Minister Tarek El Molla said in a statement, which set out the production forecasts.

Egypt's natural gas production rose to about 5.1 billion cubic feet per day in 2017 from 4.4 billion cubic feet in 2016 with the start of production from the first phase of BP's North Alexandria project.

Egypt's Nooros gas field output tops one bcf/d - MENA / REUTERS

Tue May 16, 2017 12:22pm GMTReporting by Mostafa Hashem, writing by Asma Alsharif; editing by Jason Neely

CAIRO May 16 (Reuters) - Production from Egypt's Nooros field has exceeded one billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas per day, Egypt's state news agency MENA reported on Tuesday.

Italian oil major Eni, which began production at the Nile Delta offshore field in September 2015, had said last year it plans to raise production to more than 1 bcf per day in the first quarter of this year.

Egypt starts weaning itself off LNG, domestic production increases - ENTERPRISE / REUTERS / BP

Sunday, 14 May 2017

We’ve started weaning ourselves off imported natural gas, Reuters says: Egypt is holding talks with its LNG suppliers to defer contracted shipments this year and aims to cut back on purchases in 2018, traders and industry sources tell Reuters. 

Domestic gas production is squeezing out demand for foreign imports, Oleg Vukmanovic writes for the newswire. EGAS “is also scaling back LNG purchase plans for 2018 from 70 to as low as 30 cargoes, one Egyptian industry source added, signalling the withdrawal of one of the fastest-growing LNG importers from the global stage.”

Nooros gas field to produce 1.2 bcf/d before the end of August -El Molla - ENTERPRISE / YOUM7

Sunday, 7 May 2017

Production from Eni’s Nooros gas field will reach 1.2 bcf/d before the end of August, up from a current 920-970 mcf/d, Oil Minister Tarek El Molla tells Youm7. 

According to El Molla, the company is in the final phases of drilling to expand production from the field.

TEKMOR Note: In July 2016, Ieoc through Petrobel has announced the discovery of the Nooros field located in the Abu Madi West development lease in the Nile Delta which is estimated to contain about 530 bcf (approx. 15ncm or 0,5tcf) of gas in place, beside to associate condensates.