While the biggest news coming out of Egypt recently has been the country’s gas output hitting successive records for February and March, ending Q1 with a high of 6.96bn cfd (MEES, 14 May), Italian firm Eni’s 2020 factbook released on 15 May shows decline at legacy concessions held with UK major BP could hamper Cairo’s long-term goals of gas self-sufficiency for this decade.

While the key driver of Egypt’s recent gains has been Eni’s 21.5tcf Zohr, other key Eni Mediterranean and Nile Delta concessions, many held alongside BP, have been in steady decline since reaching their peaks almost a decade ago. Meanwhile Eni’s other key start-up of recent years, the shallow-water Nooros field, has seen output fall by almost 60% since 2018 (see chart). (CONTINUED - 909 WORDS)