Dr. Wafik Meshref, the Exploration General Manager at Sahara Oil & Gas Company told Egypt Oil & Gas that there are at least seven additional blocks in the Mediterranean Sea that have similar or twin lithology to Shorouk Block.

The Shorouk Block made headlines around the world last week when Italian oil major Eni announced a major gas discovery from it. The discovery is slated to be the biggest ever in Egypt and the Mediterranean.

The seven other blocks are: BP’s North El Max, IEOC’s North El Dikhalla, North Leil, and Karawan, Edison’s North Port Fouad and North Thekah, as well as Dana Gas’ North El Arish. These blocks could have reserves upwards of 200 tcf, but they require more daring and aggressive exploratory drilling plans. All the blocks are deepwater Mediterranean.

In May of 2010 the USGS issued a Geological Survey Fact Sheet of Assessment for Undiscovered Oil and Gas Resources of the Nile Delta Basin Province and Eastern Mediterranean. They estimated reserves of 1.8b barrels of recoverable oil, 223 tcf, and 6b barrels of natural gas liquids in the areas using a geology-based assessment methodology.