OREANDA-NEWS. Italian energy firm Eni said it has discovered a "supergiant" natural gas field in the Mediterranean Sea just offshore Egypt, which is expected to help satisfy the country's gas needs for "decades".

The Zohr gas field in the Shorouk block could hold around 30 trillion ft? (5.5bn bl of oil equivalent) of lean gas, Eni said, citing available well and seismic information. "Zohr is the largest gas discovery ever made in Egypt and in the Mediterranean Sea and could become one of the world's largest natural gas finds," the firm said. Eni signed an agreement in January 2014 with Egypt's petroleum ministry and state-owned oil and gas firm Egas for a 100pc working interest in the Shorouk block, after successfully bidding for it in a competitive upstream licensing round.

The firm did not specify how it intends to monetise the gas reserves, although it said "this exploration success will give a major contribution in satisfying Egypt's natural gas demand for decades". As a comparison, the 9mn t/yr Australia-Pacific LNG project, which is on track for its first shipment in September, has around 15.3 trillion ft? of proven, probable and possible reserves, upstream operator Origin Energy said a month ago. Another project to start up next month, the 7.8mn t/yr Gladstone LNG, has more than 9,000PJ (8.5 trillion ft?) of dedicated reserves and resources, operator Santos said in its half-year results presentation.

Eni will now appraise the field, aiming to fast-track its development through utilising existing offshore and onshore infrastructure.

Egypt has been pressing ahead with plans to attract investment to its energy sector, despite a weak fiscal outlook and volatile security situation. The country is producing 4.4bn ft?/d of gas, lower than its 4.7bn ft?/d forecast for the current fiscal year. The shortfall has prompted the government to meet gas demand through LNG imports. The country's first floating, storage and regasification unit started operations in April this year with receiving capacity of around 4.1mn t/yr. It has imported around 15 LNG cargoes so far. Egas has signed agreements with oil majors and trading firms for around 108 cargoes to be delivered during the next five years.