'Supergiant' gas field discovered in the Mediterranean

[Chris]

The Mediterranean's largest known gas field has been discovered off the coast of Egypt by Italian energy group Eni, and could help the nation meets its energy needs for decades.

Eni said that the field was easily the largest in the Mediterranean Sea, and possibly holds up to 30 trillion cubic feet of gas -the equivalent of 5.5 billion barrels of oil.

The 'supergiant' gas field is near the northern coastal town of Port Said, and covers an area of 38.6 square miles (100 square kilometres) under the sea bed.

In a statement on their find, Eni said: "This exploration success will give a major contribution in satisfying Egypt's natural gas demand for decades."



Claudio Descalzi, the CEO of Eni, travelled to Cairo to bring the news to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab and Petroleum Minister Sherif Ismail.

Eni now plan to fast-track the development of the site at the gas field, and said that yet more gas could still be discovered as drilling and explorations continue.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 80091.html

[Dusak]

This discovery could quite well be the savior of Egypt's economical meltdown. A good bit of news in these dark cash strapped times.

[carrie]

I heard on the radio that due to the low cost of oil at the moment it would be economically unviable to develop the field.

[newcastle]

Let the Egyptians dream on...Heaven knows, they need straws to grasp.

Even without the oil price considerations, it'll be years before the gas & money starts flowing.

And please don't tell them that more and more vessels are taking the Cape route nowadays rendering the prospects for Suez Canal less positive.

I wonder how many months will pass before the penny drops.

[A-Four]

You are right Carrie, the oil industry is going though a very strange era. Most countries in North Africa and the Middle East run their economies on the oil price at $100 per barrel, at the moment the present oil price is in a range of $45 to $50 per barrel. At this present rate many of these countries are facing bankruptcy, even the mighty Saudi Arabia has only got two years money reserves before that country starts seeking a begging bowl.

When we look at a future increase, it will certainly be limited to $70 a barrel, being that at this price fracking for oil in both the U.S.A. and the U.K. once again becomes economical instead of importing this valuable commodity. The British government have been very busy behind the scenes pushing forward emergency powers to bypass local town and country planning after the Blackpool fiasco. Fracking will be introduced in the West the moment oil prices reach $70. The Middle East countries know this, and that is why O.P.E.C. tried to destroy the fracking industry however, Western governments ensured they were only mothballed.

Some time ago on here, I wrote that the present Middle East will soon be regarded as the new Far East, insignificant in the new world order, at the moment we are seeing almost 1,000,000 people from Syria seeking a new life in the West,...........what will happen when all of the Christians in the Middle East become refugees ?

[BBLUX]

It seems this huge discovey is causing panic in Israel.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Egypt's new natural gas bonanza is causing an uproar in Israel, with energy stocks plummeting and recriminations over indecisiveness and infighting that have delayed production from the country's own gas fields.


The rest of the story here:
http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-gas-sparks- ... 20594.html

[A-Four]

Interesting post here from BBLUX, way back last year it was thought that the Leviathan field was much larger than the other, the Tamar field which is certainly within the reach of Egypt.

It seems, as expected that the Israelis are still arguing with the Norwegians on the return of profit to Israel. I have always thought that where you get two Greeks, you always get an argument, but with an Israeli, you only need one.

It is interesting to see that the Egyptian authorities have been swift in its decision to agree on production, and now realising how vast the Tamer field is, the exporting potential of this commodity will bring new welcomed revenue into Egypt's exchequer. It may be that the
Leviathan field might not be worth developing at all, and in fact Israel importing from Egypt, though I am certain there will be no discount, as happened in previous deals.

Production of the Tamar field will still take time, but it seems that President Sisi has been able to ensure that the lights will not go out this winter, the Norway agreement seems to have worked out very well, and Norwegian liquified gas will be in abundance.

[A-Four]

. At this present rate many of these countries are facing bankruptcy, even the mighty Saudi Arabia has only got two years money reserves before that country starts seeking a begging bowl.

Seems I have spoken too soon on this subject, it appears that the Saudi government on Sunday announced a major reduction in national infrastructure projects, perhaps they are feeling the pinch already, and if this is so God only knows what effect this is having on other Middle Eastern countries reliant on oil revenues.