The Greek Energy Ministry and Energean Oil & Gas have agreed the
conversion of the exploration license for the proven West Katakolon
offshore field to a 25-year exploitation license with immediate effect,
Greece’s independent oil and gas exploration and production company said
in a press release.
The West Katakolon Exploitation area is part of the Katakolon
Concession Area and covers a 60 square kilometre area with circa 10
million barrels recoverable oil. Energean will be the operator of the
field development.
West Katakolon is the third oil and gas field to go into development
in Greece, following on from the Prinos Oil Field and South Kavala
Natural Gas Field, both located offshore in the North Aegean Sea.
Energean operates both of these fields. A Field Development Plan (FDP)
will be submitted to the Ministry of Energy by the end of February.
Drilling is planned for 2018 and will use Extended Reach Drilling (ERD)
technology to drill from onshore to offshore reservoirs.
The FDP for West Katakolon will be Energean’s third offshore plan in
process over the next few years alongside those for the 15mmbbls Epsilon
Oil Field, also in the Prinos Concession, and the much larger proven
Karish and Tanin natural gas Fields, offshore Israel. Energean recently
announced the acquisition of the world-class 2.4 trillion cubic feet
resource Karish and Tanin Fields from Delek Drilling and Avner for $148
million.
Energean CEO
Mathios Rigas, who was in Athens as a
speaker for a conference organised by the American-Hellenic Chamber of
Commerce on November 29, said the progression of West Katakolon into its
development phase is an important milestone for both Energean and
Greece. “It will be the first ever hydrocarbon production programme in
the west of the country and a major boost to the economy following the
challenges of the last few years. We are committing to the $50 million
investment in Katakolon, as a first step in seeking to open up the oil
and gas opportunities in this highly promising territory – an area with
similar geology to the wider Adriatic Zone, well known for its prolific
hydrocarbon systems in Italy, Albania and Croatia,” Rigas was quoted as
saying in the press release.
“During what has been a challenging period for the industry, Energean
has taken advantage of its strong cashflow from Prinos to make sure it
is well placed for a recovery in the oil price. It has continued to
invest through the low point in the upstream cycle, not least through
increasing the 2P and 2C reserves up to 60 million barrels of oil in
total and bringing Prinos up to 5,000 barrels per day production,” the
Energean CEO said.
“Energean is aiming to increase this to 10,000 barrels per day by
2018 through an ongoing $200 million investment programme with low break
even costs. We have acquired two new licenses in Western Greece, been
awarded two blocks offshore Montenegro and one more onshore Western
Greece, and most recently purchased the Karish and Tanin natural gas
fields in Israel. Energean has also prepared for exploration drilling in
Egypt, onshore West Kom Ombo block in the next few months,” Rigas
added.
“We have a strong and committed shareholder base, the backing of the
EBRD and collaborations with some of the biggest players in the upstream
sector, including BP, Schlumberger, Archer, and DNV GL.” Rigas said.
“We have been using our own drilling rigs, support vessels and
infrastructure and, having already invested more than $350 million in
the upstream sector, we are now ready to move on to the next exciting
stage in our development and growth as one of the leading independent
players in the under-exploited Eastern Mediterranean.”
https://www.neweurope.eu/article/energean-secures-exploitation-license-greek-offshore-field/