Eni has proved the presence of a gas accumulation in the southwest part of the Zohr structure after drilling its fifth well, the company said Sept. 1 in a news release.

Drilled to a total depth of 144,350 meters (m), the Zohr 5x well encountered a continuous hydrocarbon column of about 180 m. The results confirm Zohr’s potential of 30 Tcf original gas in place.

Located 12 km southwest of the Zohr 1x discovery well and in a water depth of 1,538 m, the well also successfully tested opening 90 m of reservoir section to production, Eni said.

“The data collected during the test confirmed the great deliverability of the Zohr reservoir, in line with the Zohr 2 well test, producing more than 50 mmscfd limited only by the constraints of the drilling ship production facilities,” Eni said. “In the production configuration, the well is estimated to deliver up to 250 MMscf per day.”

The company plans to drill a sixth well later this year as it works toward first gas by year-end 2017. Eni is targeting a startup production rate of 1 Bcf/d.

Eni, through its subsidiary IEOC Production B.V., holds a 100% stake in the Shorouk Block, where Zohr is located.

Offshore