Pumping operations begin at Egypt’s Port Said refinery
Baku, December 18, AZERTAC
Pumping operations began on Saturday on Egypt's super-giant Zohr gas field, bringing the country closer to achieving its goal of self-sufficiency in the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Experimental production began at Zohr at an initial 350 million cubic feet per day (mcfd), an event eagerly awaited since the field was discovered by Italian energy company Eni in 2015, making Egypt the owner of the largest gas field in the Mediterranean Sea.
Experimental operation means that gas is now being pumped from the wells at Zohr field to the pipelines and transferred to the Port Said land refinery before it is linked to the national natural gas grid, petroleum ministry spokesperson Hamdy Abdel-Aziz told Ahram Online.
The date of the official opening of the project is yet to be determined, Abdel-Aziz said.
Petroleum Minister Tarek El-Molla described Saturday’s “record and unprecedented pumping” as a milestone in the history of international gas production in general and Egyptian gas production in particular, according to a statement issued on Saturday.
Once the first stage of the project is completed in June 2018, production will increase to 1 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd), meaning Egypt will have achieved self-sufficiency in LNG supply.
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