Natural gas production will begin at the Atoll field in the North Damietta Offshore Concession before the end of 2017, the First Undersecretary of the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Mohamed Taher, told Amwal Al Ghad.

The field will have a maximum capacity of 300 million standard cubic feet (mscf) by the end of the year.

With three wells drilled and one completed, work at the project is 70% complete. Nearly $4 billion has been invested in the project, he noted.

The ministry is working closely with BP to speed production at the site in order to boost the country’s supply of natural gas, Taher said.

Egypt currently produces approximately 5.3 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d) but it consumes 6 bcf/d.

Recent production developments at the Libra and Noroos fields have increased Egypt’s production capacity by 700 million cubic feet per day (mcf/d).