Italian energy group Eni and its partners have made a new gas discovery in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, offshore Egypt.
The discovery has been made following the drilling of the Nargis-1 exploration well, located in the Nargis Offshore Area Concession, which covers an area of approximately 445,000 acres.
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Drilled in 1,014ft of water using the Stena Forth drillship, the Nargis-1 well has identified nearly 200 net feet of Miocene and Oligocene gas bearing sandstones.
The discovery is planned to be developed using Eni’s existing facilities nearby.
In a press statement, Eni said: “Nargis-1 confirms the validity of Eni’s focus on Egypt Offshore, which the company will further develop thanks to the recent award of exploration blocks North Rafah, North El Fayrouz, North East El Arish, Tiba, and Bellatrix-Seti East.”
Chevron operates the concession with a 45% stake while Eni’s wholly owned affiliate, IEOC Production BV, owns a 45% interest. Tharwa Petroleum Company SAE owns the remining 10% interest.
Egypt’s state-owned EGAS was cited by Reuters as saying that the Nargis-1 well’s quantity of reserves is being assessed.
The firm intends to work with Chevron and the concession partners to start production from the discovery well as soon as possible.
Chevron International Exploration and Production president Clay Neff was quoted by Reuters as saying that Chevron was “encouraged and excited by the success of this first exploration well, which encountered high-quality reservoirs”.
By 2025, Eni plans to completely end gas imports from Russia as a result of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. As part of this plan, the firm is looking for new gas sources.
