Egypt will be self-sufficient in natural gas in the second half of 2018 as large gas finds in Zohr, Nooros, and North Alexandria will start production soon, Petroleum Minister Tarek el-Molla said Saturday. Egypt has been seeking to speed up gas production from recently discovered fields, with an eye to halting imports by 2019. Once an energy exporter, it has become an importer after domestic output failed to keep pace with rising demand. Egypt's production of natural gas rose to 144 million cubic meters per day in 2017 from 124 million cubic meters per day in 2016, with the start of production from the North Alexandria field. The North Alexandria concession will begin producing 500-700 million cubic feet of gas per day by the end of 2018. Discovered in 2015, Zohr is the largest natural gas field in the Mediterranean and is projected to produce 350 million cubic feet per day by the end of the year, according to the minister. The completion of the project's first phase and a gradual increase in production are set to be completed by mid-2018.
