Drilling operations in the newfound Zohr natural gas field will commence in January 2016, senior vice-president of Italian company Eni, Lapo Pistelli announced Tuesday. Pistelli's comments came in a meeting with Egyptian ambassador to Italy Amr Helmy and were made public in a foreign affairs ministry statement reported by Egyptian news organisation Aswat Masryia. Pistelli went on to suggest the discovery could lead to deeper finds in the same field. Italian company Eni discovered gas reserves of up to 30 trillion cubic feet in Egypt's offshore Zohr area, making it the largest natural gas discovery in Egypt and in the Mediterranean Sea. The company announced their find on Sunday. The discovery was made in the Shorouk block which was awarded to Eni in January 2014 following the company's overseas bid. Once fully developed the discovery could fulfill Egypt's natural gas demand for decades, Eni said. Source: Ahram Online
