Italy's Eni is seeking to drill nine new development wells in the Zohr field in the deep waters of the Mediterranean until 2020, to increase production rates according to the plan agreed upon with the ministry of petroleum and mineral resources. A source in the oil sector told the Daily News Egypt that the development project of the Zohr field and digging 20 wells in 1,500 metres deep water is ongoing along with 2,600 under sea level to bring total drilling depth to 4,100 metres. He pointed out that the drilling of the 11th well has been completed to increase production to 2.5bn cubic feet of natural gas per day (scf/day) by the end of this month, compared to the current 2.3bn scf/day. He said that 200m scf/day of gas will be added to the daily production of the field after the 11th well is connected to the treatment plant. He pointed out that Eni has completed the implementation of the entire natural gas processing plant produced from the Zohr field during the last month, bringing the total capacity of the processing plant to about 3.2bn scf/day. The source said that the gas processing units are divided into a temporary unit of 400m scf/day, and 7 units of 2.8bn scf/day, at an investment cost of $5bn. Furthermore, he said Eni had completed connecting 10 wells in the Zohr field in the deep waters of the Mediterranean with a maximum capacity of 2.3bn scf/day. Moreover, he explained that the company completed the implementation of the seventh processing unit for natural gas produced from the Zohr field at the end of last month, bringing the total production of the project to about 2.3bn scf/day. The source added that the average production of the well in the Zohr field ranges from 200m to 250m scf/day. The production is connected to the new land station in Al-Gameel area in Port Said to be treated and pumped in the national gas network. The technical tests of the processing units and the gas transmission lines from the field wells to the treatment plant are carried out. The source added that the company aims to invest more than $4bn in the development of the second phase of the field project in the deep water in the Mediterranean Sea this year, bringing the total investment to $16bn. The ministry of petroleum and mineral resources is seeking to accelerate the completion of the next stages of the Zohr project in accordance with the instructions of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to accelerate the linking of the entire production of the project.
