- The massive Zohr gas discovery found offshore Egypt earlier this year by Eni (NYSE:E) has been seen as a major competitor to Israel’s Leviathan field discovered by Noble Energy (NYSE:NBL) in 2010, but a new report research firm GlobalData says it actually could provide the catalyst needed to ignite broader development of the entire eastern Mediterranean.
- But Eni may be able to move faster than NBL and spend less to develop its project because it has the backing of top Egyptian leaders including Pres. Al-Sisi, according to GlobalData.
- The report expects Zohr, which could hold as much as 22T cf of natural gas, could cost ~$7.7B to develop, similar to Eni’s estimates of $7B-$10B, while Leviathan, estimated to contain about half as much gas at 12.5T cf, likely will cost ~$8.9B to bring online.