Eni has announced the completion of the sixth well in Zohr gas field in the deepwater offshore the Mediterranean Sea.

According to a company official, the sixth well’s production tests will start later in October and will last for about 10 days.

In line with the project’s development plan, the drilling operations along with the establishment of a gas treatment plant and processing marine pipelines to connect the wells to the Shorouk concession area are currently being executed.

The official added that drilling one well in the deep water at Zohr field takes approximately 40 days and costs about $100 million. Therefore, the Phase 1 of the project, which is scheduled to be completed by December 2017, will cost a total investments of $5b.

Eni plans to complete the Phase 1 of the Shorouk gas treatment plant by December 2017, together with the gradual production of the field’s proven reserves.

The company is investing $3.5 to 4 billion to develop the Zohr natural gas production processing plant at a capacity of 2.7 Bcfpd of gas and intends to connect 900 Mmcfpd of gas to the national grid by the end of 2017 or Q1 of 2018. Production rate is expected to reach 2.7 Bcfpd of gas by 2020, Energy Egypt reports.

Production tests on the fifth well confirmed that the field’s reserves have increased to 30tcf of gas.

The Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation’s Deputy CEO of Production, Diaa Eldin M. Kassem, has said that Zohr field’s production will come online during H2 of 2017. The results of the second well signifies an increase in the estimated reserves by 20%, representing an increase in the production of recoverable quantities by the end of the development processes with an investment worth $12bn.

Anita Fatunji