The largest reserve in the Mediterranean
The
reserve was discovered in the Shorouk field and is the biggest
discovery in the Mediterranean region. In fact, experts are saying that
it could be the biggest Natural Gas find in the world, since ENI
expects to find other geological structures in the area. Up to today,
the biggest reserve was Leviathan in the Israelis EEZ, which measured at
about 22tcf.
Speaking to SigmaLive, the former head of KRETYK, Charalambos
Ellinas, said that it is great news for Egypt, since it means an
increase of 50% to natural gas reserves in the country, which today are
at about 60tcf. If everything goes well, than Egypt will have more
natural gas than Norway, he added.
The process will be sped up
Accordingly, ENI, who exclusively owns the rights to the specific
field, will directly move on a program of confirmatory drilling, in
order to analyse the reserves specifically. Egypt’s government is
expected to ask for a quick program, which will drive the production
process forward as soon as possible, due to the non-existence of NG the
country is faced with. It is not unlikely that the program will be
organised by 2020, with the reserves being processed and liquefied in
the existing facilities in Egypt. It’s worth noting that ENI owns 50% of
the shares in the Damiettas terminal, which today is closed.
Ellinas said that the production is expected to be at 30 bcm per
year, an amount which is enough to cover the domestic needs in Egypt for
many years and keep the 2 terminals running. He added that the
discovery will transform the energy industry in the country and
significantly strengthen its economy.
Luciano FontanaVerified account@lucfontana 16 hours ago
#Gas, il nuovo maxi giacimento Eni e gli altri nella stessa area (via @corriereit)
The impact on Cyprus
The huge discovery could, according to Ellinas, have a significant
impact on Cyprus’ and Israel’s aspirations for the export of natural gas
to Egypt. As is already known the two countries have been for some
time now talking with Egypt. Cyprus and Egypt finished a
techno-financial study, which the Energy Ministry of the island did not
comment on.
Grave-marker in Cyprus-Israel plans?
The former head of KRETYK said that prices after the discovery of
the super-reserve in the Egyptian EEZ will be such that the import of NG
from Cyprus or Israel will be asymmetric for Egypt. Especially, if
someone thinks that there will be a need to build pipelines.
“This new discovery, could potentially be a tombstone for both projects,” he said.
Finally it’s noted that the reserve neighbours with blocks 10 and
11 in the Cypriot EEZ, which means that the region could be hiding
surprises for potential reserves in Cyprus’ EEC, or in the border
region, between the exclusive economic zones of the two countries. This
could charge the agreement for exploitation from both countries.
Kasinis: more reserves will be found
The former director of the Energy Ministry, Solon Kasinis expressed
the certainty that more Natural Gas reserves will be found in the
Cypriot EEZ. He said that he always believed that the Mediterranean
would be proven to be the second North Sea, and he expressed the
certainty that the Cypriot exclusive economic zone has more reserves.
Asked by CNA whether this discovery affects energy plans in Cyprus,
Kasinis said that all data would be assessed based on the financial
burden, explaining that the pipeline planned to run from Cyprus to Egypt
is very large, of the order of 400 km, and is therefore very expensive.
On the other, he said, the Zohr reserve is 125 miles from the coast of
Egypt.
Asked what it meant for the island that the Zohr reserve borders
with block 11 he said that it was up to the companies to decide and that
ENI has been conducting extensive research in the area since 2011.
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