Egypt and Eni announce that drilling ships will begin work on the Zohr gas fields

Egypt's Petroleum Ministry said that a drilling ship would arrive in Egypt next month, as Eni begins work to increase production at the massive Zohr offshore field.

Egypt planned to become one of the world's major gas exporters after Eni found the field in 2015. However, domestic gas production has fallen in Africa since 2021 and reached a six-year minimum in 2024.

In the first half 2024, the average production at Zohr fell to 1.9 billion cubic foot per day (bcf/d), well below the 2019 peak.

Eni confirmed on Friday that, as stated by Egypt's Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, it was preparing to restart drilling in the Zohr field in eastern Mediterranean.

The Egyptian Ministry issued its statement late Thursday.

The drilling vessel "Saipem 10000" is expected to arrive in Egypt within the next few weeks. It will then begin a drilling operation using modern technology with the goal of increasing the gas production.

Saipem 10000, a vessel of the Italian energy services firm Saipem, is a unique vessel. (Reporting from Nayera Abdallah in Cairo, Nafisa eltahir in Milan and Francesca Landini at Milan; editing by Barbara Lewis.)

(source: Reuters)