According to a report by Global Data, Egypt’s Atoll gas discovery is of national significance for the county as it is expected to reduce the country’s gas deficit with a required investment of $945m estimated for the development of the first phase of Atoll, reported Offshore Technology. Located in the North Damietta Offshore license, Atoll is BP’s second deepwater discovery in the Nile Delta region with 1.5tcf of gas and 31m barrels of condensate.

Entitled ‘Egypt Atoll Project Panorama – Oil and Gas Upstream Analysis Report’, Global Data suggests that the development will help Egypt lower its dependence on foreign gas imports, mainly from Algeria and Russia, and thus curb its increasing debt burden due to hydrocarbon imports.

The study further cited data, according to which, the country’s gas deficit is expected to increase by 5% a year, which is the rationale behind BP fast-tracking the Atoll development using existing infrastructure.

The discovery was made by BP in March 2015, the Atoll field gained development approval from the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum in November 2015.

Earlier in April, the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC), the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS), and British company BP had signed agreements to facilitate gas production from the Atoll field, Tarek El Molla, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, said, as Egypt Oil&Gas wrote.

Head of BP’s upstream division, Bernard Looney, added that the company is eyeing to boost its investments to Egypt, which will be the largest recipient of BP’s finances by 2020, informed Al Mal News.