Sisi praises Eni’s work, looks forward to more discoveries

President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi praised the cooperation with Italian energy company Eni and its operations in Egypt, stressing on the importance of committing to the set timeline for the development of the fields that Eni is working on.

This came during Sisi’s meeting with Eni’s Chief Executive Officer Claudio Descalzi Wednesday. Presidency’s spokesman Bassam Rady said that the meeting comes in light of the follow up on the company’s operations in Egypt, especially in relation to Zohr gas field.

Descalzi reviewed the status of the different projects his company is executing in Egypt, praising the cooperation between Eni and the Egyptian government and companies.

He said that Egypt is one of the most important markets for his company as it has promising opportunities in the energy and renewable sectors.

Sisi expressed his keenness for the company to continue its work and achieve more discoveries. He also directed the Petroleum Ministry and its affiliates to cooperate with the company and remove obstacles that might stand in its way. In 2015, Eni discovered Egypt’s giant Zohr gas field, which covers an area of 100 square meters with a depth of 1,450 meters.

Investing around $10 billion in the project, Eni estimates a total output of approximately 30 trillion cubic feet of gas, making it the biggest gas field in the Mediterranean.

The new field will help secure energy needs of the country, which consumes around six billion cubic feet of gas a day.

In December, Eni delivered the first gas from Zohr, starting up in less than two and a half years from the discovery, a record time for a field of this size in deep waters.