A natural gas discovery has been made off the coast of Egypt in the
Mediterranean that could in time provide a substantial amount of
feedstock for the domestic power market. Italy’s ENI announced that
drilling on its Zohr prospect resulted in a “world class supergiant”
natural gas discovery.
The well, the Zohr 1X new field wildcat, is
located in the Shorouk Block in the deepwater of the Mediterranean. The
well was drilled in 4,757 ft water depth to 13,553 ft total depth. The
well encountered a hydrocarbon column at 2,067 ft in a carbonate
sequence of Miocene age with excellent reservoir characteristics, with
what ENI said contained over 400 meters of net pay. The structure also
has a deeper Cretaceous upside that will be targeted in the future with
an appraisal well.
ENI said that according to the well and seismic
data available, the discovery could hold a potential of 30 Tcf of lean
gas in place (5.5 billion boe in place) covering an area of about 100 sq
km. The statement added that the Zohr is the largest gas discovery ever
made in Egypt and in the Mediterranean Sea, and could become one of the
world’s largest natural-gas finds.
The company will immediately
appraise the field with the aim of accelerating a fast track development
of the discovery that will best utilize existing offshore and onshore
infrastructures.
Eni’s CEO, Claudio Descalzi said: “It’s a very
important day for ENI and its people. This outstanding result confirms
our expertise and our technological innovation capacity with immediate
operational application, and above all shows the strength of the
cooperation spirit amongst all the company’s units which are at the
foundation of our great successes. Our exploration strategy allows us to
persist in the mature areas of countries which we have known for
decades and has proved to be winning, reconfirming that Egypt has still
great potential. This historic discovery will be able to transform the
energy scenario of Egypt in which we have been welcomed for over 60
years. The exploration activities are central to our growth strategy: in
the last seven years we have discovered 10 billion barrels of resources
and 300 million in the first half of the year, confirming ENI’s leading
position in the industry. This exploration success acquires an even
greater value as it was made in Egypt which is strategic for ENI, and
where important synergies with the existing infrastructures can be
exploited allowing us a fast production startup.”
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