Experimental Production from Zohr Gas Field to Start Within Days

Egypt's Minister of Petroleum Tarek El-Molla announced on Sunday that experimental production from the Mediterranean Zohr Gas field is set to start in the coming days, Al-Ahram Arabic website reported on Monday.

Discovered in 2015, Zohr is the largest natural gas field in the Mediterranean and will be producing 350 million cubic feet per day by the end of the year, according to the minister.

"The completion of the project's first phase and the gradual increase of production is set to be completed by mid-2018," he said.

In October, El-Molla announced that $27.3 million would be invested in three Egyptian natural gas fields – Zohr, North Alexandria, and Nooros – during 2018.

El-Molla also announced that 83 new exploration agreements worth $15.5 billion will be signed next year, with 230 wells worth $2 billion being drilled,

The North Alexandria concession will begin producing 500-700 million cubic feet of gas per day by the end of 2018, he said.

The three major gas fields discovered recently are expected to raise Egypt's natural gas output by 50 percent in 2018 and 100 percent in 2020, the petroleum ministry says.