Eni Resumes Drilling Activities in Zohr Field Offshore Egypt

Italy’s energy major Eni is gearing up to recommence drilling operations at the Zohr field offshore Egypt, following the arrival of the Saipem 10,000 drillship. The drillship, belonging to the Italian engineering and construction services giant Saipem, reached Egyptian waters on January 28, 2025, to initiate drilling activities in the Shorouk area, located 200 kilometers north of Port Said.

The Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources in Egypt, Karim Badawi, recently announced plans to resume Zohr development activities, with the drilling of two deepwater wells slated to begin in January. The objective is to achieve a gas production rate of 220 million cubic feet per day.

Discovered in 2015, the Zohr field commenced production in 2017. Over the years, its output has steadily increased, reaching 2.7 billion cubic feet per day in 2019. Eni had set a target of 3.2 billion cubic feet per day by the end of the year.

Eni considers the Zohr field a supergiant, holding an estimated 480 million barrels of oil equivalent. It is hailed as the largest natural gas discovery in the Mediterranean region.

Aside from Egypt, Eni has been actively engaged in Côte d’Ivoire. In late December, the company commenced production from Baleine Phase 2, the second phase of development for Baleine, one of the significant discoveries in the country.