ENI to begin digging of new gas field discovered off Egypt coast in January

Italy's ENI oil company is planning to start digging operations of a super-giant natural gas field it has discovered off Egypt's Mediterranean coast in January 2016, says the first vice president of the company.

ENI wants to start work in the field to be able to benefit from the big discovery as soon as possible, Lapo Pistelli said Tuesday, stressing this would also have a positive impact on the Egyptian economy.

The new natural gas discovery will also boost Egypt's position on the international map of energy being the biggest in the Mediterranean region, Pistelli said in a meeting with Amr Helmy, the Egyptian Ambassador in Rome.

The new finding will help meet Egypt's needs of natural gas for decades to come, according to a statement by Pistelli.

Regionally speaking, Egypt will enjoy more credibility at the political and economic levels, he added.

European countries can very well depend on Egypt to meet their needs of natural gas as well, Pistelli said, noting that Europe is acting to diversify sources of energy.

ENI used the most advanced system to explore for natural gas in the deep waters, Pistelli said. The highly-advanced technology it used enabled it to go as deep as 4,200 meters below water surface, he added.

The new discovery could be just the beginning of bigger findings in even deeper waters of the same field, Pistelli said.