Eni and partner BP have confirmed that production has started from the giant Zohr gas field offshore Egypt in the Mediterranean Sea.
The deepwater field, with potential resources in excess of 30 Tcf of gas in place, started-up in less than two and a half years from the discovery.
The field, in 1500m water depth the Shorouk Block, about 190km north of Port Said, was discovered in August 2015, and is the largest gas discovery ever made in Egypt and in the Mediterranean Sea.
Andrew Scutter, of the EIC, wrote for OE in June that “Eni’s 30 Tcf Zohr discovery, offshore Egypt, is a game changer in the region that has the potential to convert Egypt from a net importer back to the LNG exporter that it was 10 years ago.”
An initial six wells were expected to be drilled and tied into existing infrastructure as part of the first phase of development. Some 20 wells are expected to be drilled by the end of 2019.
In July, Saipem was awarded a $900 million engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contract for an “Optimised Ramp Up” phase on Zohr. Saipem said the scope of work includes the installation of a 30in-diameter gas export pipeline and an 8in-diameter service pipeline, as well as EPCI work for the field development in deep water (up to 1700m) of four wells and the installation of umbilicals. Work is due to be completed by the end of 2018, Saipem said.
In September, Baker Hughes, a GE company (BHGE) won a subsea contract for Zohr’s second phase. BHGE will provide project management, engineering procurement, fabrication, construction, testing and transportation of a subsea production system, including seven manifolds, tie-in systems, long offset subsea and topside control systems, SemStar5 high integrity pressure protection systems, workover systems and tools, and will support the installation, commissioning and start-up operations.
Eni holds a 60% stake in Shorouk Block, Rosneft 30% and BP 10%. The company is co-Operator of the project through Petrobel, jointly held by Eni and the state corporation Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC), on behalf of Petroshorouk, jointly held by Eni and the state company Egyptian Natural Gas holding Company (EGAS).
BP says delivery of first gas from Zohr completes its program of seven Upstream major project start-ups in 2017.
Zohr follows the earlier start-ups of the Khazzan project in Oman, Persephone in Australia, Juniper and the Onshore Compression project in Trinidad, Quad 204 in the UK, and the first phase of the West Nile Delta project, also in Egypt.
Bob Dudley, BP group chief executive, said: “Seven new upstream projects around the world have been brought safely into production in 2017, on average under budget and on schedule. We’re well on the way towards our goal of delivering 800,000 barrels a day production from our new projects by 2020.”
Read more:
Egypt’s breadbasket
Jerry Lee reports on Eni's eagerness to fast-track development of Zohr in OE's April 2016 issue.
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