Eni has announced that it has concluded the drilling of the third gas well at its Zohr gas field in Egypt.

The first estimates of the third deepwater well is bigger than the first and the second, with estimated reserves of 30tcf.

According to a senior official from Eni, first production from the third gas well is very promising and Eni plans to commence the drilling of the fourth gas well in the Shorouk concession in the coming week and will be complete within 40 days.

The official added that Eni plans to conclude the stage 1 of the Zohr development lease involving drilling six gas wells, by the end of 2016.

Eni has commenced the execution of a treatment plant for the gas produced from the Zohr field, estimated to be 1billion BTU/d in phase 1.  The plant is to be a subsidiary of Petrobel’s facilities in Port Said governorate.

The phase 1 of the Shorouk plant will be concluded by December 2017 followed by the gradual commencement of production and the company aim to complete the connection of Zohr gas field production in two phases. Phase 1 will involve the preparation of four wells for production by mid-2018, while the phase 2 will see the addition of 16 wells to production by 2020.

Under the deal for the development of the Shourouk concession, signed between the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) and Eni, 40% of the value of the overall discovered gas will be reserved for the regaining of the foreign partner’s investments in the project, which includes research and development.

Out of the remaining 60%, 65% will be allocated to the Egyptian government and 35% will go to Eni, Energy Egypt reports.

Anita Fatunji