Italian company Eni has started testing the production of the 14th well in the Zohr deep-water field in the Mediterranean Sea, bringing the total capacity of the field to about 3.2bn cubic feet of gas per day (scf/day).
A source in the oil sector told Daily News Egypt that the field currently produces about 3bn scf/day, and the rates will be increased by next year to 3.2bn scf/day.
He added that production from other wells has been reduced until the 14th well testing is completed, which has production of 150-250m scf/day, because the local market does not need any additional quantities of natural gas.
He added that the Ministry of Petroleum meets the full needs of power plants, factories, households, and cars of natural gas and directs liquefied gas for export, but does not need additional quantities during the current period in light of the decline in power plant consumption by about 800m scf/day.
The financial results of Petro Sharq, which is responsible for managing the Zohr field’s development, in 2018/19 saw the drilling and completion of seven wells, bringing the total number of wells that have been linked and put on production to 12 wells.
In addition to expediting the rest of the phases of the project on production as soon as possible, and the completion of the construction of the onshore station eight months ahead of schedule by operating the production units 5, 6 and 7 in February, March, and April 2019, respectively, bringing the total capacity of treatment at the onshore station to 3.2bn scf/day.
The results included that the total investments of the Zohr field development project so far amounted to about $10.6bn, which witnessed an increase in production in August 2019 after the second sea line’s operation with a diameter of 30 inches to reach 2.7bn scf/day.
They pointed out that operating expenses amounted to about $49m, a saving amounted to 55% of the approved budget with an increase in production quantities to reach 122% of the approved plan, which led to reducing the target cost of gas production.
