Sisi: maritime border demarcation deals allowed Egypt to discover Zohr gas field

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Sunday that the Mediterranean and Red Seas maritime border demarcation deals have enabled Egypt to discover the Zohr gas field, saving the country from going dark due to electrical shortages.

Discovered in 2015, Zohr is the largest natural gas field in the Mediterranean, whose daily production exceeds three billion cubic feet of natural gas. Its appearance on the production map had sided Egypt import from abroad. The gas field is located within the Shorouk concession, approximately 190 km north of Port Said city.

Thanks to Zohr gas field, which started production in December 2017, Egypt achieved self-sufficiency in natural gas since 2018.

Speaking at the Egyptian Economic Conference 20222 (EEC 2022), the Egyptian president El-Sisi further explained that at the time “when we defined the maritime borders with Greece and Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea, we received harsh criticism [locally].”
No company would have agreed to explore for gas without demarcated borders, he noted.
Sisi further added that if it were not for Zohr gas field, Egypt would be facing an electricity shortage due to the cost of gas imports, estimated at $10 billion monthly.

The gas field has saved about $120 billion annually for the country, which is the gas value that would have been imported from abroad to be directed for power plants at current prices, he explained.

He said the imports of natural gas’s value destined for power plants previously was up to $2 billion per month, while after rising prices it would have reached up to 10 billion per month.

The economic conference is organised by the government as it aims to set up the state’s economic roadmap in the coming periods to increase the competitiveness and resilience of the Egyptian economy.