Egypt announces discovery of 'largest' gas field ever found in the Mediterranean

The Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources announced on the discovery of the “largest” natural gas field ever found in the Mediterranean Sea.

The ministry said in a statement that the Italian company Eni made the discovery in the area of Shorouk in Egyptian waters.

The Egyptian Minister of Petroleum Sharif Ismail said that data revealed “original reserves estimated at 30 trillion cubic feet of natural gas (equivalent to about 505 billion barrels) which covers an area up to 100 square kilometres.”

The statement says that the discovery is the greatest achieved in Egypt and in the waters of the Mediterranean, and is likely to be “one of the largest natural gas discoveries in the world.”

The Egyptian minister added that “the new discovery was drilled in waters 1,450 meters deep and reached a depth of 4,131 meters to penetrate the hydrocarbon layer, with a thickness of about 2,000 feet (equivalent to 630 meters) of limestone rocks,” noting that Eni will complete drilling activities early next year by drilling three wells in order to speed up the process of developing the discovery over stages, taking advantage of the existing infrastructure.

According to the ministry’s statement, the process of developing the field would take around four years and it will “significantly contribute to meeting the needs of domestic consumption of natural gas.”

The minister noted that this discovery is one of the positive outcomes of the oil and gas agreements signed in the past two and a half years – 56 agreements worth $13 billion in investment.