Eni starts up Meleiha phase two with processing capacity of up to 100 million cubic feet a day
Key Facts
Eni has launched commissioning activities for the second phase of the Meleiha project in Egypt's Western Desert, according to a statement published by the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources on 20 October 2026. The new facility has a design capacity to process 100 million standard cubic feet of gas a day, according to the company's statement on the project. The phase is being implemented through Agiba, the joint venture between Eni and the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation, as part of their operations in the Western Desert. The ministry said the project "will help increase natural gas availability for the domestic market," linking the expansion to support for Egyptian supplies. The launch of commissioning activities follows an earlier ministry update on the Meleiha plant saying work was nearing completion ahead of startup.
Infrastructure for the new phase includes a dedicated gas pipeline, according to details Eni announced on the project's components. The pipeline connects the new facility to existing infrastructure to transport gas from the Meleiha processing expansion. The company pursues a near-field exploration strategy in the Western Desert, whose objectives it outlined in an earlier statement on its discoveries in the region. Eni said the strategy aims to maximise production while containing the development costs associated with turning discoveries into producing projects. In the same statement, it said shortening time to market was another objective of its near-field exploration in the Western Desert.
Eni's operations at Meleiha are underpinned by a previously announced agreement to merge the Meleiha and Meleiha Deep concessions in Egypt's Western Desert. The agreement extended the concessions to 2036 as part of arrangements for the company's continued operations in the region. It also provided for a possible further extension to 2041, according to Eni's statement on their renewal and merger. Across its Egyptian portfolio, the company's hydrocarbon production totalled about 242 thousand barrels of oil equivalent a day in 2025. Eni cited that production figure, calculated on an equity basis in Egypt, as background to its operations when announcing the launch of commissioning activities for the new phase.
At Agiba, the proposed budget for the next fiscal year targeted investments of about $509 million, according to the ministry's statement on the company's budget. Alongside its investment programme, the plan included a gas production target of 125 million cubic feet a day across Agiba's operations. In an earlier historical update on the company's performance, the ministry said gas production averaged 80 million cubic feet a day during the first half of the fiscal year covered by that statement. The ministry said in that update that Agiba had met its production plan for the period, covering oil and gas output. Higher investment and gas production are targets for the operating company as a whole, while the announced Meleiha expansion centres on the new facility's processing capacity.
The ministry's discussions on Eni projects also covered plans to connect Cronos to Egyptian infrastructure, as part of its review of gas projects involving the company and its partners. The connection plans were discussed following the partners' final investment decision, according to the wording of the ministry's statement on the talks. In another project in its Egyptian portfolio, Eni announced estimates of resources in place at the Denise West discovery in August 2026. The company estimated gas in place at about 2 trillion cubic feet, according to its statement on the discovery and development plans. Eni's estimates also included about 130 million barrels of condensate in place, alongside the gas resources announced in the same statement.
Eni aims to start gas production from Denise West in less than 2 years, according to the plan it announced in August 2026. That timeframe relates to first gas from the discovery under the company's announced development programme in Egypt. On the upcoming financial disclosure schedule, Eni's calendar set 23 October 2026 as the date for publication of its results statement. The disclosure programme includes an earnings conference on the same day, according to the financial calendar the company published for investors. Eni's results page scheduled the conference webcast to begin on Friday at 14:00 Central European Summer Time.