Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi met on Thursday with Eni Energy CEO Claudio Descalzi, where the president expressed his support for the Italian energy giant expanding its investments in Egypt, the Egyptian presidency stated. According to the Egyptian presidency, El-Sisi met with Descalzi and other Eni officials who are currently on a visit Egypt, where they showcased Eni's current and future activities in Egypt and expressed their wish to expand operations in the country. They also discussed the re-opening of the Damietta Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plant at full capacity in order to export LNG. Descalzi said he is looking forward to expanding activities in Egypt in oil and gas exploration and production, especially with Egypt's strategic location, infrastructure, and stability and security, which allow it to serve as a regional energy hub. El-Sisi also discussed with Eni officials cooperation to produce hydrogen for generating energy in Egypt as part of the state's effort to attract foreign direct investments in renewable energy and to optimise the use of the country's natural resources. Egypt's Minister of Oil and Mineral Resources Tarek El-Molla attended the meeting. Eni has been operating in Egypt since 1954 through its subsidiary IEOC, and its current daily production is estimated at 280,000 barrels of oil equivalent. The Italian company discovered the giant Zohr gas field, the biggest in the Mediterranean, off the Egyptian coast in 2015. The discovery, which holds an estimated reservoir of 30 trillion cubic feet, has drawn the interest of investors to the country's energy sector.
