 |
| |
Egypt, Detects Major Natural Gas | |
| Sumita Pawar |
The Egyptian Minister of Petroleum, Tariq Al-Mulla, announced the country’s discovery of a new gas block, the Nargis, in the eastern Mediterranean, which is now in the evaluation stage to determine the field’s reserves, said the report.
 |
The country’s driving effort is to establish itself as a regional energy hub.
Chevron's website says that Nargis is one of four offshore exploration blocks in Egypt where Chevron and Tharwa Petroleum both have operating concessions.
In December, Reuters reported, citing the Middle East Economic Survey, that the volume of the new well is 3.5 trillion cubic feet of gas.
The discovery might help Egypt in its efforts to establish itself as an energy hub in the eastern Mediterranean following the 2015 announcement of the discovery by Italian energy company Eni of the giant Zohr gas field, mentioned in the report.
Egypt is trying to increase the amount of gas it makes and exports so it can take advantage of the high prices on international markets.
In September, Egypt’s Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said that Egypt earns about $500 million per month from natural gas exports and hopes to increase that figure to $1 billion in the near future.
According to Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, the country’s natural gas exports increased after the implementation of a plan to rationalise electricity consumption in August, according to the report.
By Sumita Pawar