Repsol begins development of Perla field, Venezuela

Repsol Chairman, Antonio Brufau, Eni Chairman, Paolo Scaroni, and the Venezuelan Minister of Popular Power for Oil and Mining Rafael Ramirez signed the natural gas supply agreement for the Perla field development.

The Perla super-giant field, which contains over 16.3 trillion cubic feet of gas in place, equivalent to approximately 3 billion barrels of oil, was discovered by Repsol and Eni in 2009 in the Cardon IV block, and is located 50 miles offshore in shallow water of the Gulf of Venezuela.

Since the discovery, a total of five gas wells have been drilled, which will now be put into production using offshore platforms and underwater connections which will carry the gas onshore, where it will be processed and sent through the Venezuelan distribution network.

The project will be developed in phases, with the first phase entailing an estimated investment of $1.5 billion, including the exploration and evaluation phase in which 300 million cubic feet/day of gas is expected to be produced. In the next two phases, production is set to rise fourfold to 1.2 billion cubic feet/day, which will be maintained until the end of the contract in 2036.

The supply contract, signed until 2036, with a mutual commitment to supply and purchase over 8 TCF of natural gas, will be one of the supply sources for the domestic gas demand in Venezuela, which is expected to grow along with industrial, petrochemical and power generation consumption in the coming years. Given its large size, the field also offers new opportunities for natural gas exports, which Repsol and Eni will analyze with PDVSA and the Ministry of Popular Power for Oil and Mining.

The license for the Cardon IV block was awarded to Repsol and Eni at 50% each. Venezuela's state oil company, PDVSA, will participate with a 35% share in the development of the project, with Repsol and Eni's shares at 32.5% each.

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Repsol makes its largest oil find

Repsol has confirmed its biggest ever oil discovery following the first exploratory efforts in the Vaca Muerta formation in Argentina’s Neuquen province, one of the world’s largest non-conventional reservoirs.

The company has confirmed recoverable resources of 927 million barrels of oil equivalent of non-conventional hydrocarbons, of which 741 million are high quality oil (40-45? API), in an area of 428 km2 of the Loma La Lata Norte formation in the Neuquen province.

A total of 15 vertical wells were drilled, and they produced an initial 5,000 boepd of high quality shale oil.

Repsol YPF has also begun exploratory and production activities in another discovery, in a 502 km2 producing area in the same Vaca Muerta formation. The well is producing 400 boepd of high quality shale oil (35° API).

This new area has significant potential for large volumes to be developed in the future once the appropriate studies and preliminary work to determine resources is completed.

Until now, the company has concentrated its exploratory efforts for non-conventional resources on an area of Loma La Lata Norte. This 428 km2 area is part of the 12,000 km2 to which YPF owns rights in the Vaca Muerta area, site of one of the world’s largest (30.000 km2) and highest quality non-conventional resources.

Wood Mackenzie identified the Vaca Muerta shale as one of the best in the world in its “Unconventional Gas Service,” describing the formation as “excellent” after evaluating areas in Australia, China and various European countries.

The evaluation included the development of the hydrocarbons market, infrastructure, regulation, availability of water, fiscal terms, quality, comparative volume, potential for enhanced recovery and organisation of the supply chain.

Wood Mackenzie said in its report that YPF is the world’s second largest company in non-conventional acreage, with 3 million acres (12,000 km2) in the Vaca Muerta formation.

Repsol in December 2009 launched its “Exploratory Programme 2010-2014” which begun in the middle of 2010. One of its objectives was the creation of a non-conventional resources exploration plan.

Additionally to the reported 428 km2, studies are being carried out to quantify the additional resources in a new 502 km2 area, where results obtained so far allow the company to estimate similar potential to the aforementioned area.

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Repsol new gas find in Brazilian post-salt

Repsol Sinopec Brazil and its partner Petrobras have made a new offshore gas discovery in the Brazilian post-salt.

The find was made 135 kilometres from the city of Vitoria, in the Espiritu Santo basin.

The well, known as Malombe, was drilled in the southeast of the Peroa field, in 980 metres (3,215 feet) of water. The find was confirmed after several tests detected gas at a depth of 2,600 metres.

The consortium, which will continue to carry out work on the block, will present an evaluation plan to Brazil’s National Oil Agency (ANP), which aims to demarcate the new deposit that has been discovered, and result in an estimate its volume and production capacity.

Repsol Sinopec Brazil has an 11.9% share in the consortium and Petrobras, which is the operator, holds the remaining 88.1%.

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