Zohr, the giant oil field in Egypt's offshore

Egyptian woman inside Zohr plant

The largest natural gas discovery in the Mediterranean, made and brought on stream in record time by combining technology, expertise and the ability to forge solid agreements with the producer country and partner companies. 

 

Zohr can meet local gas needs for decades and at the same time make it possible to build a facility of regional importance for liquefied natural gas (LNG), an increasingly crucial sector for ensuring security of supply. With this project, Egypt confirms its strategic role not only for Eni - it has been strategic for our company since it was founded - but also for the global energy industry.

Project features

Activity start date: 2017 - present

Egypt

Oil & Gas
Oil & Gas

IEOC Production B.V.

Petrobel

Petroshorouk

Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC)

Egyptian Natural Gas holding Company (EGAS)

Project development and operation

The largest gas field ever discovered in the Mediterranean

Zohr is a natural gas project offshore Egypt, almost two hundred kilometres north of Port Said in the Shorouk area. The field is a super giant and, as far as natural gas is concerned, it is the largest ever discovered in the Mediterranean. We identified it thanks to our offshore exploration capabilities and studied it in detail using digital geosciences. Using sophisticated algorithms running on our supercomputers Eni geologists were able to reproduce its internal structure in 3D. Its potential turned out to be enormous, enough to meet Egypt's energy consumption for decades and enable the country to establish itself as a major exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the Mediterranean.

A success of our Dual Exploration Model

We brought Zohr on stream in less than two years after its discovery, a record time for a deepwater field of this size. This speed is also the result of our Dual Exploration Model, our operating model, which consists of selling minority stakes in newly discovered resources to other players in advance, so as to immediately cash in and thus gain the ability to quickly invest in project development, while still maintaining control and leadership of operations. What makes this approach possible is the technical skills of our people, an example of excellence and credibility for all our international partners.

Highlights
~175 k
boe/d

production level of Eni's share of the field in 2022


21
%

share of hydrocarbons produced by Eni in Egypt against its total production (2022)


~175 k
boe/d

production level of Eni's share of the field in 2022

21
%

share of hydrocarbons produced by Eni in Egypt against its total production (2022)

Expand

The development of the Zohr project

August

2019

September

2018

December

2017

August

2015

New production target

Gas production reaches 2.7 billion cubic feet per day

First production target

The project is ramped up and gas production reaches 2 billion cubic feet of gas per day

Start of production

Natural gas production begins less than two and a half years after its discovery

The field is discovered

Eni discovers the super giant Zohr field in the Egyptian offshore

Last update: 03 July 2023


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