BP's North Alexandria Concession Could Start Producing Gas by Early 2017

BP will most likely commence gas production at its North Alexandria concession early 2017 rather than mid-2017, Egypt's petroleum minister Tarek El Molla said at a news conference on Saturday.

Output will be about 450 million cubic feet per day in 2017 and reach 1.2 billion cubic feet per day by the end of 2019, new agency Reuters quoted the minister as saying.

From being an energy exporter Egypt has turned into an importer due to falling domestic gas output. To fill the demand gas, government has been inking LNG imports deals in past many months. From the longer term point of view Cairo has been working to attract foreign firms by improving business terms. The government has also been clearing past dues it owed to foreign energy companies.

The minister also stated that Egypt will continue to import LNG for another five years, Amwal Al Ghad newspaper reported. He stressed that earlier new projects, such as the North Alexandria and other discoveries enter into production phase, the sooner Egypt would stop importing LNG.

A development that could be a big boost to Egypt’s gas sector, Eni made a “world class supergiant gas discovery” at its Zohr prospect. In August the Italian company said the discovery could hold a potential of 30 trillion cubic feet of lean gas in place.