Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Tarek El Molla, said that the development of the Zohr field in Shorouk concession area in the Mediterranean is proceeding well according to the plan, Daily News Egypt  informed.

The plan aims to produce about 1bcf/d of gas, in the first stage, by the end of 2017. The plan then moves on to the later stages, boosting production to about 2.7bcf/d by the end of 2019.

Moreover, El Molla said that the total investments in the Zohr field will reach $8b by the end of fiscal year 2017/2018, noting that the figure is huge in relation to the short term, which reflects the size of the efforts and challenges to begin production in time. He pointed out that the investments will total $16b.

According to the plan of Italy’s  Eni, the first stage will put out about 1bcf/d of gas before the end of 2017. This figure is then to be increased gradually, as development continues, to reach 2.7bcf/d in 2019. The total reserves of Zohr are estimated at about 30tcf.