CAIRO, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- Production of Egypt's Zohr gas field hit 2 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d), Egyptian oil ministry said in a statement Friday.

"Nearly 7.7 billion U.S. dollars have been invested in Zohr so far," the statement said.

"The high production will contribute strongly to self-sufficiency of natural gas in the country," Egypt's Petroleum Minister Tarek al-Molla said.

The offshore field aims to attract foreign investment of about 10 billion dollars in oil and gas sector in the fiscal year 2018-19, the statement added.

The Zohr field, the largest natural gas discovery in the Mediterranean, is located off Egypt's northern coast within the Shorouk block, some 190 km north of the Suez Canal city of Port Said.

The field's production is expected to rise to 2.7 bcf/d by the end of 2019, transforming Egypt into a regional power hub.