Italy’s Eni said on Sunday it has completed the authorization process for the development of the giant Zohr natural gas field, offshore Egypt.
The Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources has approved that the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) grants Eni the Zohr development lease, which, following the contractual framework definition, allows for the development of the gas field, Eni said in a statement.
The development plan envisages the start of production by the end of 2017, with a progressive ramp up until reaching a volume of about 75 million standard cubic meters of gas per day (equivalent to approximately 500,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day) by 2019.
The discovery , which was announced in August last year, could hold a potential of 30 trillion cubic feet of lean gas in place (5.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent in place).
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, according to Eni.