By: OrePulse

Egypt's Ministry of Petroleum said a new exploration well in the Mediterranean has found a gas-bearing layer with preliminary estimates of about 200 billion cubic feet of gas in place, in a discovery operated by Italy's Eni with partner Woodside Energy of Australia.

The ministry said the Nasim-1X well, drilled in the Taiba concession, encountered a gas-bearing layer with a net thickness of about 15 meters, measured on a true vertical depth basis. The roughly 200 billion cubic feet figure refers to gas originally in place rather than recoverable reserves, and the ministry said studies are continuing to determine how much of that gas can ultimately be recovered.

The well was drilled by Petrobel, the joint operating company used by Eni and its partners in Egypt, on behalf of Eni, which operates the concession, and Woodside Energy, which holds a partner interest. Plans call for connecting the well to existing production infrastructure through a pipeline of about 22 kilometers linking it to the Abu Madi-El Gamil line, allowing any eventual production to reach processing facilities already in operation nearby.

The ministry tied the discovery to broader government efforts to attract investment in Egypt's upstream sector and to settle outstanding payments owed to international partners operating in the country. Egypt has in recent years sought to work through a backlog of dues owed to foreign oil and gas companies as part of efforts to encourage continued exploration investment.

The discovery adds to a series of near-field finds in Egypt's Mediterranean acreage, where operators have focused on smaller tie-back discoveries that can be connected relatively quickly to existing infrastructure rather than large standalone developments. Egypt's domestic gas production has declined in recent years from the giant Zohr field's peak output, prompting the government to restart some LNG imports and to prioritize exploration that can bring new supply online quickly through existing pipeline and processing networks.

No timeline was given for a final investment decision on developing the Nasim-1X find, and the ministry did not specify when recoverable reserve estimates would be finalized. The companies did not comment on potential production rates or development costs.

Eni has a long-standing position in Egypt's upstream sector, including interests in the Zohr field and other concessions in the Nile Delta and Mediterranean offshore areas, and has continued exploration activity in the country even as some international energy companies have scaled back spending elsewhere in the region.

The find adds to a broader pattern of exploration activity in Egypt's offshore Mediterranean acreage, where operators including Eni have focused on smaller tie-back discoveries near existing infrastructure as a way to offset natural production declines at larger, more mature fields without the lengthy lead time typically required for standalone developments.