MOSCOW, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Natural gas production at Zohr,the largest gas field in the Mediterranean Sea, more thantripled in the first half this year to reach 11.3 billion cubicmetres (bcm), Russian energy giant Rosneft said onWednesday.
The field is an important asset for Kremlin-controlledRosneft in its global expansion strategy and natural gasproduction programme. Rosneft bought a 30% stake in the projectfrom Italy's Eni in 2017.
The company said daily gas output at the offshore projectwould reach 76 million cubic metres (2.7 billion cubic feet) bythe end of the year from 68 million cubic metres currently.
"After the field's start-up in December 2017, itsdevelopment is going ahead of schedule," Rosneft said in astatement.
Eni controls 50% of the project, while BPand Mubadala Petroleum each have a 10% stake in Zohr.(Reporting by Maria Kiselyova and Vladimir Soldatkin, editingby Deepa Babington and David Evans)