Egypt's Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly held a meeting on Tuesday with Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi on the future of oil and gas discoveries in Egypt, state agency MENA reported. During the meeting, Madbouly expressed his appreciation for the existing cooperation with Eni, citing the Zohr offshore field, the largest gas discovery ever made in Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea. For his part, Descalzi reviewed a report on the company's current activities and projects in Egypt. The pair also discussed Eni's plans to increase investments in Egypt in the coming period, as well as the company's exploration and development activities in Sinai, the Gulf of Suez and the Western Desert. It comes nearly two months after the Italian giant announced a second oil discovery in Egypt's Western Desert, some 130 km north of the Siwa Oasis. The discovery was made on the B1-X exploration prospect located in the South West Meleiha Concession. Egypt is seeking to speed up production from recently discovered fields, with the aim of halting gas imports by 2019 and achieving self-sufficiency. The giant Zohr offshore gas field in the Mediterranean contains an estimated 30 trillion cubic feet of gas; production started in late 2017, with an initial production of 350 million cubic feet per day. The daily production will increase to 1.75 billion cubic feet by the end of August, and to 2 billion cubic feet by September, according to statements by Egypt's petroleum minister earlier this month.
