Zohr Natural Gas Field Project

- President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi witnessed the opening of the early production stage of Zohr natural gas field, west of Port Said, which is the largest gas field in Egypt that is discovered in the Mediterranean Sea.

The opening ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Sherif Ismail, First Lieutenant Sedki Sobhi, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, minister of defense and military production, minister of petroleum and mineral resources Eng. Tariq Al-Mulla and a number of ministers and senior state officials.

Opening Ceremony..

- Mr. Claudio Descalzi, CEO of ENI, the field explorer and chief operator, said that the Zohr field reflects the company's interest in investing in Egypt, especially as it was one of the first countries in which ENI operated as it runs about 35% of gas production in Egypt. The head of the company stressed that the opening of Zohr field is a major achievement counted for Egypt, noting that the Egyptian government provided support for the achievement of the project, and that the Egyptian companies have provided record numbers during the stages of work. The head of ENI made it clear that there is still a lot to be discovered in Zohr field.

The Minister of Petroleum gave a presentation on the strategy of the petroleum sector and energy materials in Egypt as well as the Zohr field project. He pointed out the challenges that the Egyptian market witnessed in the past, including the cessation of research and exploration, the slowdown of investments, the emergence of a gap in local production and the occurrence of crises in the availability of energy materials.

Eng. Tariq Al-Mulla stressed that with political and security stability, the government succeeded in restoring search, exploration and development operations in gas projects and developing petrochemical plants and infrastructure for petroleum products in order to increase the capacity to produce energy materials.

- The minister of petroleum reviewed the details of Zohr field project and the stages of its implementation to start the production of natural gas, noting that the reserves of Zohr field are estimated at 30 trillion cubic feet of gas, which is equivalent to 5.4 billion barrels of oil equivalent. The field reserves represent more than 135% of Egypt’s current crude oil reserves. He also reviewed the importance of the project to the national economy, pointing out its contribution to the creation of job opportunities, and the attraction of foreign investments to Egypt, which are estimated at about $ 12 billion, 5 billions of which have been spent during the first phase. The project also contributes to increasing Egypt’s gas production and filling the needs of the local market and directing toward export.
The minister of petroleum also presented to President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi a model for the naval control platform for Zohr field as a souvenir from the oil sector on this occasion.

- Sisi stressed in his intervention the importance of the convention on maritime boundary delimitation with Cyprus to open the field for the start of search, exploration and exploitation of wealth. He stressed the importance of taking care not to deal with sensitive issues concerning the fate of the Egyptian people without full knowledge of the details of these issues and their importance to the state.

He stressed that the countries are built by means of work, honesty, and integrity, pointing out that the achievements would not have taken place without stability, security and steadfastness of the Egyptians, calling for not following the attempts to spread chaos, which threaten the chances of continuing to make achievements and projects that benefit citizens.

The president gave a warning to all those who want to tamper with the security of Egypt or repeat the chaos that happened years ago, noting that he will not allow this to happen again; he will sacrifice himself for the lives of Egyptians and preserving the homeland. He stressed that if attempts made to tamper with continued the security of Egypt, he would ask a new delegation of Egyptians to take other actions.

The president clarified that the state is not built by words, but by work and diligence. He called on all those who want to address public affairs to know the concept of the state, pointing out that it is a concept that must be learned over many years. Caution should be given when communicating with people and making the truth evident.

- President Sisi pointed that the country has been bearing the expenses for years; it spends one billion and two hundred million dollars a month to buy petroleum products due to the cessation of production as a result of the state of revolution that Egypt was passing through. Some sought to break off relations between Egypt and Italy to prevent access to the implementation of Zohr field project through an incident that cuts affection and love between the two countries, so Egypt will not forget to Italy’s support to Egypt despite the incident of “Regeni”.

The President stressed that Egypt will not forget this painful incident and investigations will not stop until the perpetrators are caught.

- President El-Sisi thanked the Egyptian people in the name of ENI and its chairman, pointing out that the relationship with the company proved the strength of the Egyptian-Italian relations.

President El-Sisi also paid a special tribute to the Prime Minister, Sherif Ismail, pointing out that he is a virtuous figure who works in silence and takes responsibility in difficult circumstances.

The President directed to complete the delivery of natural gas to about 1.35 million housing units during the current year, with a solution to be provided to the problem of needed funding.

- The President witnessed the unveiling of the commemorative plaque to mark the beginning of the early production stage of Zohr field. President Sisi listened to a detailed explanation of Zohr field given by Engineer Walid Hejazi, the projects engineer in Bala'eim company about the project of developing Zohr field project, the largest gas exploration in the Mediterranean. He stated that the project is divided into 3 major areas. The first area is the well area and production facilities under the sea. The second area is the sea platform area, and the third area is the land processing plant.

President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi listened to the presentation of the brief summary on the early production facilities, which was presented by a production engineer at Bala'eim Oil Company, who explained that the early production facilities station at is designed at the highest level and equipped in record time. The station contains 4 main sections: natural gas desulphurization section, sulfur production section, natural gas liquids separation and treatment section, and utilities section.
He noted that the plant is designed to produce 350 million cubic feet of gas per day, 5 tons of sulfur, 2000 barrels of condensate.

El-Sisi has been keen on sending a message to the people of Port Said that the project takes into account all environmental standards in order to preserve the area and the health of citizens. El-Sisi also stressed the importance of the contribution of the companies working on the project in the projects with a social dimension. The president then made an inspection tour of the project.