Eni has announced that they have started operations at the second production unit at Egypt’s Zohr natural gas field, Amwal Al Ghad reported.

The Italian company plans to increase the field’s output to reach 1.2 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d) of natural gas in May 2018, and 2 bcf/d before the end of 2018.

The company predicts the production ceiling to reach 2.7 bcf/d in 2019.

Zohr field’s output increased to reach 700 million standard cubic feet per day (mscf/d) on April 23, according to Amwal Al Ghad.

The increase came after the company successfully linked the first production line with 350 mscf/d capacity, a source revealed to the newspaper.

The source added that the second 350 mscf/d capacity line will be connected during the first half of May 2018, bringing the total production to around 1.1 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d) of natural gas.