Royal Dutch Shell is discussing pumping 23 million cubic feet (mcf) of gas from its Faramid well in the Western Desert to Eni’s gas processing plant in Obayed, an anonymous source told Al Borsa.

The wells will be closed until the two sides agree terms for constructing a pipeline between the field and the facility, the source from the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) added.

The Faramid well cost million to drill and was originally expected to produce crude.

Exploratory drilling however showed that it will produce natural gas instead, the source said.

The 450 mcf gas processing plant currently has around 50 mcf in spare capacity, enabling it to process gas produced by the Faramid well.