Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi has held talks with Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on increasing investments in Egypt, upping gas exports and domestic renewable energy.
The talks follow reports from the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources that Eni’s Zohr field has managed to maintain output at 2.7 billion cubic feet per day of gas.
Descalzi’s talks today focused on gas and LNG exports, Eni said. The company has played a “central role” in the Mediterranean since its discovery of the Zohr field.
A representative of the Egyptian president said the meeting reviewed Eni’s activities in the country. The aim, he said, was to establish Egypt as a regional energy hub.
Eni produces around 60% of Egypt’s total gas. It is also committed to boosting production through an exploration and development campaign. The company recently won five new licences in a bid round. These, it said, could provide for fast-track developments through existing facilities.
As a result of this local campaign, Eni expects to boost LNG exports via the Damietta LNG plant towards Europe.
Alongside the gas plans, Eni said it had reached an agreement on a number of solar and wind power projects. These would reach 10 GW of installed capacity, it said.
Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly and the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla also attended the talks.
Shorouk shuffle
El Molla discussed various of Eni’s projects in Egypt, including Zohr and LNG exports via Idku and Damietta. These, he said, are operating at full capacity.
The minister had recently received an update on Zohr from its operator, Petro Shorouk, a venture including Eni and various other companies.
PetroShorouk president Khaled Mowafi said Zohr had reached 2.7 bcf per day, in addition to around 5,000 barrels of condensate. This year, the company has invested $741 million in Zohr, bringing the total since work began to more than $12 billion.
PetroShorouk has drilled two wells on Zohr this year, Zohr 15 and Zohr 16, in order to maintain production.
Eni reported it had reached 2.7 bcf in 2019. The company boosted capacity at the field to 3.2 bcf per day in 2020. Zohr contributed 145,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day to Eni in 2019, falling to 133,000 boepd in 2020 and then rising again to 183,000 boepd in 2021.