Production of natural gas from two deep-water wells at Shell's West Nile Delta field 9B in Egypt will begin in the first half of October, according to a statement from Minister of Petroleum Tarek El-Molla on Friday. The statement indicated that the whole project, which includes several other wells being dug and linked to production, was set for completion in the second half of 2019 with an output of 400m cubic feet per day(scf/day). However, the statement did not disclose the amount of gas to be produced from these first two wells. El-Molla told Daily News Egypt earlier that the actual work to develop the 9B stage with Shell began months ago, adding that Shell will invest around $750m during the project period to produce 350m scf/day. This comes after a two-year stop following the accumulation of foreign partners due in the Borollos and Rashid areas. In addition to achieving gas self-sufficiency before the end of this year and completely stopping the importation of liquefied natural gas, Egypt in February issued long-awaited executive regulations to allow the private sector to import natural gas directly, in order to attract private-sector participation in the country's rapidly expanding gas sector and achieve the country's aspiration to become a regional gas hub. On 27 July, Italian oil giant Eni said in a press statement that the production of the mammoth Zohr gas field in the eastern Mediterranean is set to reach 2bn scf/day in September, up from 1.6bn scf/day.
