Italian company Eni has won five new exploration permits obtained from the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, after participating in a global tender for oil exploration in 2021.
The licenses, including four as operator, are at sea and on Egyptian soil. In detail, the licenses are located in the Eastern Mediterranean (block “EGY-MED-E5” in partnership with BP 50% -50% and block “EGY-MED-E6” IEOC 100%), in the Gulf of Suez (block “EGY-GOS-13” IEOC 100%) and in the western desert (blocks “Egy-WD-7” in partnership with APEX 50% -50% and “EGY-WD-9” IEOC 100%) with a total area of approximately 8,410 km².
For Eni, these licenses support its strategy of continuing to explore and produce gas to support the Egyptian domestic market and contribute to the export of LNG, thanks to the recent restart of the LNG plant in Damietta.
The Italian company has been present in Egypt since 1954 and is currently the main producer in the country with an oil production of around 350,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. Its gas production in Egypt hit a record high of nearly 4 billion cubic feet per day in mid-2021. Eni hoped to sell some 47 shipments of LNG from Damietta to international markets last year.
The company sold 9.5 million tonnes of LNG in 2020 and aims to reach 14 million tonnes by 2024 as it seeks to increase gas production as part of its plan to reduce carbon intensity by its energy portfolio.
