Italy's Eni discovers gas field offshore Egypt's Nile Delta

Egypt has benefited massively from its 2016 discovery of the Zohr gas field

Eni holds a 75% stake in the Abu Madi West Development Lease, through its subsidiary IEOC,. Reuters

Italian energy company Eni said on Wednesday it discovered a gas field, which is estimated to hold up to 4 trillion cubic feet of gas, in the waters of the Nile Delta, offshore Egypt.

The discovery in the Great Nooros area, located in the Abu Madi Development Lease, was confirmed after Eni drilled an exploratory well called the Nidoco NW-1 in the concession area.

The Nidoco NW-1 well found gas-bearing sands with “good petrophysical properties” in the Abu Madi formations.

Preliminary evaluation of results from the testing well as well as the associated reservoir and recent discoveries in the area indicate that Great Nooros Area is estimated to hold up to 4 tcf of gas.

Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous state, has benefited massively from its discovery of the Zohr field through Eni in 2016 in the Eastern Mediterranean. The find sparked search for more hydrocarbon resources along the Nile Delta and western desert as the North African country looked to leverage these discoveries to become a net exporter of gas, particularly to markets in Europe.

Eni, along with BP and the Egyptian petroleum sector, will screen development options on the discovery in conjunction with existing infrastructure.

Eni holds a 75 per cent stake in the Abu Madi West Development Lease, through its subsidiary IEOC, while BP holds the remaining interest. Petrobel, a joint venture between state-owned Egyptian Petroleum Corporation and IEOC, is the operator of the development.

Egypt last year awarded US oil major Chevron, Anglo-Dutch Shell and Abu Dhabi's Mubadala rights to explore for oil and gas in the Red Sea as it expands its search for new hydrocarbon reserves.

After it awarded exploration licences to concessions in the western and eastern desert regions, the Nile Delta and the Gulf of Suez, Egypt said it intends to launch another round that included blocks in the Red Sea.