Italian company Eni completed drilling of the ninth well in the Zohr deep-water natural gas field in the Mediterranean Sea at a cost of $300m, with initial production of 150m standard cubic feet of gas per day (scfd) according to production tests. A source in the oil sector told Daily News Egypt, that the ninth well was closed after the company finished drilling because the current gas treatment plant lacks available processing capacity. He explained that the ninth well will be connected to production by the end of this year, after the completion of the implementation of the sixth gas processing unit in the gas treatment plant with a capacity of 400m scfd. Moreover, the source pointed out that the production of the ninth well will gradually increase to reach 250m scfd, bringing the total Zohr field production to 2.25bn scfd. Furthermore, Zohr's second development phase is to be completed in July 2019, bringing the field's total production to about 2.95bn scfd, up from the of 2.7bn scfd previously estimated in the development plan. He explained that Eni aims to invest about $4bn in the development of the second phase of the field next year, bringing the company's total investment in the gas field to $16bn. Moreover, the source confirmed that the ministry of petroleum is seeking to accelerate the completion of the next stages of the field development, after the instructions of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to accelerate the linking of the entire production of the Zohr gas field to the natural gas grid. He added that the ministry succeeded, in cooperation with the Italian foreign partner, in shortening the specified time plans, increasing Zohr's gas production rates to 2bn scfd in November. Zohr development was achieved in record time, as the exploration phase was completed within one and half years after the signing of the agreement. It took just 28 months from the discovery until the start of production in mid-December 2017, compared to a period of 6 to 8 years that is achieved globally in similar projects. The production will be connected to the new gas treatment land station in the Gemayel area in Port Said, afterwards, it will be pumped into the national gas network. Following will be the completion of technical tests of the processing units and the gas transmission lines from the field wells to the treatment plant.
