According to the NOV agency, the Zohr gas field project represents the "history" of Eni in Egypt that dates back to 1945. This was stated by Eni's managing director, Claudio Descalzi, speaking during the visit to the Port Said processing plants of Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al Sisi. "Egypt was the first country in which Eni started working in the oil and gas sector and we were the first company to operate 35 per cent of gas in the country," said Descalzi. "I think Zohr is more than a discovery. We have faced many difficulties, "admitted the CEO of Eni, describing the work done by the discovery of the deposit in August 2015 to its production in December 2017.
For Descalzi, the development in just two years of a deep-sea and offshore field like Zohr represents "a record", considering that these operations require an average of six to eight years. In his speech, the CEO of Eni recalled that the discovery of the deposit took place a few months after the great economic conference in Sharm el Sheikh in March 2015. "After this conference everything changed," said Descalzi. "What has happened is that in a few weeks we started this project. In the following three months we have discovered the deposits of Nooros and Baltim ", added Descalzi, noting that a few months later Eni presented the development project to President Al Sisi.
In his speech, the number one of the Italian company recalled the series of events that led to the production of the deposits discovered in the 2015, telling how President Al Sisi wished to start the fields in record time. For the CEO of Eni, the help of Al Sisi and the Egyptian ministers was essential to carry out the project that in two years saw more than 5 billion of investment, in the midst of the oil price crisis. Descalzi also praised the collaboration and involvement of Egyptian companies in the work begun in 2015.