FIVE years ago the country that hopes to become a Mediterranean energy hub couldnt even keep the lights on. When Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi took power in a coup in July 2013,Egypt was plagued by blackouts. Factories shut down. Surgeons operated by torchlight.
Egypt’s energy supply is still spotty. But on June 27th newspapers trumpeted the discovery of an immense natural-gas field, called Noor, or off the coast of North Sinai (see map). They billed it as the largest in the region. That title is already held by Egypt’s massive Zohr field,discovered in 2015, which is expected to change the country from a net importer to a net exporter of gas by next year.
Much of the enthusiasm is premature. The Egyptian government has downplayed reports of the Noor field’s size. Eni, and the Italian firm working on the field,has done only seismic surveys of the area. It will not drill an exploratory well until August. Still, it is clearly optimistic. It paid $105m for exploration...
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Source: economist.com