Major Gas Discovery in Venezuela
Eni made a world class gas discovery at its Perla field, in the shallow water of the Venezuelan offshore, successfully drilling an explorative well in the Perla field, located in the Cardon IV block, in the Gulf of Venezuela. The field has a reserve potential higher than the 6 trillion cubic feet of gas (1 billion of barrels of oil equivalent) previously estimated. In order to further define the field, further appraisal wells will be required. The Perla 1X well, 50 km from the coast, has been drilled encountering a hydrocarbon column of 240 m.
During the production test, the well produced high quality gas with a capacity of 600,000 m3 per day and 500 barrels of condensate per day. Normalized gas production per well is expected to increase to over 1 million m3 per day (6,000 boed). The results of the well exceeded pre-drill expectations, making Perla the largest gas discovery in Venezuela and, potentially, one of the world’s largest natural-gas discoveries in recent years. These results will be evaluated with the objective of accelerating the definition of a work program to further define the discovery and establishing possible development scenarios.
The Cardón IV Block is currently licensed and operated by a Joint Operating Company, 50% Eni and 50% Repsol, named Cardón IV S.A. The Venezuelan state company Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) owns a 35% back-in right in the development phase and, if exercised, Eni and Repsol will each hold a 32.5% interest in the project.
In order to optimize and accelerate the start-up of Perla field, Eni will employ its breakthrough technologies and the considerable expertise achieved in the development of gas offshore fields around the world and in giant fields with the same characteristics of Perla.