From Zacks
Italian oil and gas company Eni SpA’s official claimed that the discovery of an enormous natural gas deposit in Egyptian waters has raised hopes of other such finds in the eastern Mediterranean. This is likely to help meet Europe’s energy needs.
Per the official, the Zohr discovery by the company is a milestone as the find is estimated to be of 30 trillion cubic feet of gas. The claim bolstered the interest of other major oil and gas companies in the region.
While the waters off Cyprus hold prospects for new discoveries, viable exploration opportunities are likely to be available at Lebanon and Israel later this year.
Eni expects the Zohr field to be commissioned by the end of 2017 and meet Egypt’s growing domestic demand for energy. The total cost for developing the deposit is 12 billion euros ($12.8 billion).
Egyptian government intends to bring online two idle processing plants to liquefy gas so it can be exported to the European markets.
The geological features off Cyprus are comparable to those where the Zohr deposit was discovered, raising hopes for new findings. Earlier drilling by Noble Energy, Inc (NBL – Free Report) found a field estimated to hold over four trillion cubic feet in reserves.
If more fields are discovered off Cyprus, the island could choose to construct a processing plant of its own to export gas.
Eni is licensed either on its own or in partnership with South Korea’s Kogas and France’s Total SA to perform exploratory drilling in six of Cyprus’ 13 offshore blocks.
Another option for export purposes is to build pipelines connecting east Mediterranean gas fields with Turkey and Europe. Pipelines are technically feasible option but involve huge investment, political agreements and additional gas finds.
