Supergiant' Gas Field Found In Mediterranean

The discovery, equivalent to 5.5 billion barrels of oil, is one of the biggest ever - and could supply Egypt "for decades".

A "supergiant" natural gas field which could supply Egypt for "decades" has been discovered off the country's coast.

Italian oil company ENI said the find was the largest in the Mediterranean Sea and could yet become one of the world's most significant, possibly holding up to 30 trillion cubic feet of gas.

The discovery "in the deep waters of Egypt" in the firm's Zohr prospect is spread over an area of 38.6 square miles (100 sq km).

It is about 120 miles (190km) from the Egyptian coast at a depth of some 4,757ft (1,450m), ENI said.

The discovery was announced a day after ENI's CEO Claudio Descalzi met Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo to update him on the development.

Mr Descalzi said: "This historic discovery will be able to transform the energy scenario of Egypt in which we have been welcomed for over 60 years.

"Our exploration strategy allows us to persist in the mature areas of countries which we have known for decades and has proved to be winning, reconfirming that Egypt has still great potential."

Eni has been in Egypt since 1954 through its subsidiary IEOC. It is the main hydrocarbon producer in Egypt, with a daily production of 200,000 barrels of oil equivalent, the company said.

Egypt's petroleum ministry said that the find was equal to about a third of Egypt's current gas reserves.

"The Egyptian government is very happy with this find," spokesman Hamdi Abdelaziz said, adding that the gas would be extracted for domestic consumption only.

"We hope to become self-sufficient by 2020," he added.

The government cannot yet place a monetary value on the discovery, he said.

Egypt has suffered from power cuts caused by oil and gas shortages.