Egypt confirms giant gas field Zohr to start output by 2017-end

Egypt confirms Tuesday plans to start natural gas production from its massive offshore Zohr gas field at the end of 2017.

Egypt is looking forward to becoming a regional energy trading hub soon, Egyptian Petroleum Minister Tarek el-Molla said on the sidelines of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s visit to Cyprus.

Discovered in 2015 by Italy’s Eni with an estimated 30 trillion cubic feet of gas, the Zohr field is expected to help alleviate Egypt’s severe energy shortage and save the country billions of dollars spent on imports.

Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi said earlier in August that Zohr field was expected to produce some 500 million square feet (46.5 million cubic meters) of gas by the end of the current year.

Once an energy exporter, Egypt’s domestic production has failed to keep pace with growing demand in recent years, forcing the country to resort to imports.