Italian energy firm Eni is making progress with the development of its giant Zohr gas field in the Mediterranean Sea, offshore Egypt.

The company on Thursday said that Zohr 5x, the fifth well on Zohr structure, was been successfully drilled to the final TD of 14,271 ft (4,350 m). The Zohr 5x well is located in 1,538 m of water depth and 12 Km south-west from the discovery well Zohr 1x.

The well proved the presence of a carbonatic reservoir and gas accumulation also in the South-Western part of the Zohr mega-structure encountering about 590 feet (180 meters) of continuous hydrocarbon column in the carbonate sequence with excellent reservoir characteristics. The results are confirming the potential of the Zohr Field at 30 Tcf OGIP, Eni said.

Eni said that the well was also successfully tested opening 90 m of reservoir section to production. The data collected during the test confirmed the great deliverability of the Zohr reservoir, in line with the Zohr 2 well test, producing more than 50 mmscfd limited only by the constraints of the drillship production facilities, the company added.

In the production configuration, the well is estimated to deliver up to 250 mmscf per day.

The drilling campaign on Zohr will continue in 2016 with the drilling of the sixth well that will ensure the accelerated start-up production rate of 1 bcf per day.

“The steady progress of the project execution is confirming the schedule expected to reach the first gas by the end of 2017,” Eni added.

To remind, Eni discovered the super-giant gas field in August 2015. The company then said that the discovery could hold a potential of 30 trillion cubic feet of lean gas in place (5.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent in place) covering an area of about 100 square kilometers.

The Zohr gas field was discovered using the drillship Saipem 10000, which is still operating in the area.

Eni, through its Egyptian venture Petrobel, in July awarded Saipem an Engineering, Procurement, Construction & Installation (EPCI) contract for the accelerated start-up of the development project for the Zohr Gas Field.

The scope of work of the contract encompasses the installation of a 26-inch gas export trunkline and 14-inch and 8-inch service trunklines, as well as EPCI work for the field development in deep water (up to 1700 metres) of 6 wells and the installation of the umbilical system. Work began start in July 2016 and is due to be completed by the end of 2017.

Source: www.offshoreenergytoday.com