Italian giant Eni has drilled its fifth well on the Zohr field offshore Egypt, confirming its potential to contain some 30 Tcf, with hopes of first gas by the end of next year.
Map of Zohr, from Eni. |
The Zohr 5x well is 12km southwest form the Zohr 1x well at 1538m water depth. The field is in the deepwater Shorouk block, in the Mediterranean Sea, and is Egypt’s largest gas field discovery to date, according to Eni.
The well reached 4350m (14,271ft) and proved the presence of a carbonatic reservoir and gas accumulation also in the south-western part of the Zohr mega-structure encountering about 180m (590ft) of continuous hydrocarbon column in the carbonate sequence with excellent reservoir characteristics. The results confirmed the potential of the Zohr Field at 30 Tcf, Eni said.
Zohr 5x was also tested, opening 90m of reservoir section to production. It produced more than 50 MMcf/d, limited only by the constraints of the drilling ship production facilities.
In full production, Eni is estimating that the well will deliver up to 250 MMcf/d.
The Italian giant’s drilling campaign at Zohr will continue through this year, with a sixth well planned. The company expects the sixth well to accelerate a start up production rate of 1 Bcf/d, and to reach first gas by the end of 2017.
Eni, through its subsidiary IEOC Production BV, holds a 100% stake in the Shorouk Block. Petrobel is operating the activities on behalf of the Petroshorouk company, an equal joint venture between IEOC and the state company Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Co. (EGAS).
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Eni in first Zohr test success