Egypt hails production of milestone gas field "Zohr"

CAIRO, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- Egypt's gas field "Zohr," the largest in the Mediterranean Sea, has started production on Saturday with 350 million cubic feet as initial daily output, the Egyptian oil minister said in a statement.

"This event represents a milestone in the history of world gas industry in general and Egyptian gas industry in particular," said Egypt's Oil Minister Tarek al-Molla in the statement.

By the completion of the first phase in June 2018, the field will gradually produce more than 1 billion cubic feet per day, while the peak production after all phases are completed is expected to reach 2.7 billion cubic feet a day, according to the minister.

Italy's oil giant Eni, which has been operating in Egypt for over 60 years, announced in August 2015 the discovery of Zohr in the Egyptian offshore as the largest gas field in the Mediterranean.

The company said in August that it intended to pump investments of 3.5 billion U.S. dollars into Egypt in 2018, representing half of the company's annual investments.

Molla said that Egypt consumes some 5.8 billion cubic feet of gas every day, while Zohr project is expected to cover one quarter of the country's gas demands upon completion. Enditem