'Zohr's Bigger Sibling' Claim Premature: Source
Reports that Italy’s Eni is just two months away from drilling an exploration well on the Noor gas prospect offshore Egypt have been downplayed by a well-placed industry source in Cairo.
The source also dismissed a press report that speculated Noor might hold three times more than the 30 trillion ft3 (850bn m3) gas in place at the supergiant Zohr field.
It’s understood that Eni has been lined up by the petroleum ministry to receive the Noor licence. But crucially, Egypt's parliament has yet to approve that award and is expected shortly to recess until September, the source told NGW. Whilst it might be possible to drill an exploration within two months on Noor if the licence were awarded tomorrow, that does not look likely, he added.
If the licence were only issued in September, it would be much later this year before any drilling on Noor were to start - adding that it is premature to estimate Noor’s resource size prior to any drilling.
Zohr is now in its ramp-up phase with the aim of reaching 2bn ft³/day by the end of the year, and a production plateau of 2.7bn ft³/d by the end of 2019, operator Eni said last week. The Italian major has a 50% equity interest in Zohr, while Russian Rosneft has 30%, with BP and Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Petroleum 10% each.
It's expected that Eni will issue a statement announcing the award of the Noor licence only when it is definitively awarded. (Banner photo shows Zohr seen from the shore, credit: Eni)