The ongoing project to develop the Disouq gas concession in Northern Egypt is more than a month ahead of schedule and should continue to see rapid progress, according to the project’s German operator, RWE Dea.

“We have the Central Treatment Plant (CTP) onstream producing roughly 150-100 million cubic feet a day and we are continuously drilling wells. Since 2011 we never stopped drilling wells and we will continue adding wells for another year or so,” says Maximilian Fellner, general manager of RWE Dea’s Egyptian subsidiary.

“We have confidence in the government here and the situation. The government is pushing for the gas because they need it.”

Egypt is currently suffering its worst gas crisis in decades as demand outstrips domestic production.

Between 2011 and 2013 annual natural gas production dropped from 61.4 billion cubic metres to 56.1 billion cubic metres, according to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy.

Phase B of the Disouq project was started 34 days ahead of schedule and has already seen all eight planned wells drilled, one of which is already connected to production faciilties and producing gas.

Phase A was completed in August and involved the drilling of an initial eight wells as well as the construction of facilities including a Central Treatment Plant (CTP) and two 40km export pipelines for gas and condensate.

On top of drilling the wells and connecting them to the CTP Phase B consists of the construction of a raw gas trunk line to connect the gas fields Sidi Salem Southeast 1 and 2 (SSSE) and Disouq (DSQ).

At the end of phase B a total of 16 development wells will be producing.

Further construction phases will bring the total well-count up to 31 by the end of 2015, according to RWE’s Fellner.