Eni‘s head of natural resources announced that the performance of the Zohr gas field in Egypt is better than that of more giant areas in Russia last Tuesday.
“The field’s performance is in line with our plans and better than that of bigger fields in Russia.” Eni’s natural resources chief operating officer Guido Brusco said.
Brusco said that the Italian energy group is planning to invest around $3.5 bn in Egypt over four years in activities including exploration and management of existing fields.
Last year, Eni, Italy’s largest importer of natural gas, reacted fast to a decline in the supply of Russian gas by shipping increasing volumes from Africa to its home country.
“Africa is a continent where much investment is needed even in the traditional exploration and production business.”
In the next few years, Eni sees Algeria and Egypt’s role consolidating and a potentially more significant role for Libya and several sub-Saharan countries, including the Republic of Congo and Angola, Brusco added. The company is rolling out multi-billion investments to guarantee exports to Italy, serve the African market, and prepare to ship more gas to Europe.
Eni is Africa’s most significant international natural gas producer, Brusco said, adding that over 90 percent of the fuel the group extracted in the continent last year went to the African market.
“Fields are declining, but 80% of global energy demand is still based on fossils, so while cleaner sources are being developed, it’s necessary to manage oil and gas reduction… particularly in Africa where the population is growing and development is accelerating,”
Last year, Eni’s production in Egypt stood at 346-kilo barrels of oil equivalent per day (KBOED).
