Eni makes new gas discovery in Egypt’s North Sinai

Italy’s oil and gas major Eni has made a new gas discovery off the Egyptian coast in North Sinai.

The discovery is located in the Nour North Sinai Concession in the Eastern Egyptian Mediterranean, about 50 kilometres (31.1 miles) North of the Sinai Peninsula, Eni said in a statement on Thursday.

“The Nour-1 New Field Wildcat (NFW), which has led to the discovery, was drilled by the Scarabeo-9 semi-sub in a water depth of 295 meters and reached a total depth of 5,914 meters.” the Italian firm said.

“Nour-1 well found 33 metres of gross sandstone pay with good petrophysical properties and an estimated gas column of 90 metres in the Tineh formation of Oligocene age.”

Eni said the well had not been tested, however an intense and accurate data acquisition has been carried out.

In the concession, which is in participation with the state-run Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS), Eni is the operator with a 40 percent stake, BP holds a 25 percent stake, Mubadala Petroleum a 20 percent stake while Tharwa Petroleum Company a 15 percent stake of the contractor’s share.

The JV Operator will start the feasibility studies to accelerate the exploitation of these new resources leveraging the synergies with existing facilities and infrastructures, after finalising the discovery evaluation, Eni added.