Fri 16 December 2022:
Egypt has discovered a large natural gas reserve in the Nargis block in the eastern Mediterranean, according to local media on Thursday.
Evaluation is still ongoing to determine the gas field’s reserves, Petroleum Minister Tarek El Molla was quoted in the Al-Ahram newspaper.
The new field was named “Narges” and comes after the Zohr field in terms of importance.
“Our sovereignty over our wealth is inseparable, and we have discovered a large discovery whose quantity has not been determined, but will be announced. Its production volume is good, and the state’s rights and share are guaranteed along with the foreign partner.”
These were Petroleum Minister Mulla’s responses to a number of briefing requests during his Thursday’s meeting with the House of Representatives Energy Committee.
Details about Narges will be disclosed once determined, he added.
The Italian energy company Eni discovered natural gas in the Zohr region off the coast of Egypt in 2015.
It is estimated that there are 3.5 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves in the Nargis-1X.
During his speech, Mulla said that the ministry’s plan for the fiscal year 20230/2022 includes 118 exploratory wells, part of which are for rapid production, including Narges field.
Nargis is one of four offshore exploration blocks in which Chevron holds operating interests in Egypt along with Tharwa Petroleum Co.
The latest find could provide a boost to Egypt’s efforts to position itself as an energy hub in the eastern Mediterranean following the 2015 discovery by Italian energy company Eni of the vast Zohr gasfield.
It comes at a time when the Egyptian economy is deeply troubled by the fallout from the Russia-Ukraine war and the coronavirus pandemic before it.
Egypt is the second-biggest producer of gas in North Africa after Algeria and accounts for about 1.7 per cent of the world’s proven reserves, according to the BP Statistica l Review of Energy 2022. It produced about 67.8 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas last year.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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