MAGNUM-SIZE NATUAL GAS RESERVE DISCOVERED
It’s possible that the largest natural gas reserve to date was just discovered in the coastline of Egypt. It was reported today that the Italian company Eni SnA, has discovered an area of 1,450m (4,757ft) in the deep waters of the Egyptian coast, and the total area is of about 60 sq miles. With these numbers, the reserve may hold as much as 30 trillion cubic ft of gas, or similarly, 5.5 billion barrels of the same. The field, named Zohr, could may well become one of the largest natural gas finds, and could help meet the region’s need for natural gas for decades to come.
The CEO, Claudio Descalzi, commented on the discovery by saying that the area could become “one of the world’s largest natural gas fields”, and that “this historic discovery will be able to transform the energy scenario of Egypt.” The company, the largest foreign energy firm in all of Africa, holds full concession rights to the reserve after signing an energy exploration deal with Egypt’s oil ministry. The deal was worth $2bn, and allowed Eni to explore the Sinai, the Gulf of Suez, the Mediterranean sea and parts of the Nile Delta, all very vast and very rich areas where great discoveries are made and have yet to be made, not only by the company but by others as well and in other countries.
WHAT DOES THIS NATURAL GAS MEAN FOR EGYPT?
The reserve, described as “supergiant”, proves that Egypt still has great potential in terms of energy and the development of the same. Descalzi said in a statement that “important synergies with the existing infrastructures can be exploited”, which would allow a fast production startup. The company has been in the country since 1954, through one of it’s subsidiaries, IEOC (International Egyptian Oil Company), and it is the main producer of hydrocarbon in Egypt. Their daily equity production is of 200,000 barrels of oil, according to the company.
COULD THERE BE MORE HIDDEN RESERVES LIKE THIS?
This discovery could mean that there are still great basins of natural gas left to be found in our oceans, but this should not encourage a careless search for it. This may well be the largest basin yet, and it has jump-started a plethora of movements, some searching for more energy to give to their respective regions, others interested in discovering more ways to find and preserve our natural resources.
A full statement by Eni about this discovery can be found here.
