Biggest natural gas field discovered near Damietta

A consortium of Italian companies working in Egypt announced Wednesday the discovery of a big deep water natural gas field off the Egyptian Mediterranean Sea city of Damietta.

The consortium named the discovery "Dragon-1."

The consortium's executive director said the well was successfully drilled in a location some 80 kilometers off Damietta at a depth of 300 meters. Drilling continued to the depth of 2040 meters.

Firsthand estimations put Dragon-l's gas reserves between 15-30 billion cubic meters (tantamount to 530-1060 billion cubic feet).

The discovery, of an immense reserve, is near a liquefaction plant currently set up by a Spanish company in Damietta.