By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Feb. 9 -- Consulting engineers doubled estimates of proved and probable oil reserves at Ombrina Mare field in the Adriatic off central Italy, where Mediterranean Oil & Gas PLC hopes to start production in late 2012.
The consultants estimated 12 million bbl of proved reserves and 28 million bbl of probable reserves, the total being double the firm’s June 2008 estimate. The firm didn’t revise the previous estimate of 6.5 bcf of proved and probable gas reserves. The field area covers 100 sq km.
The revision resulted from seismic reinterpretation, production test analysis, and other detailed technical studies.
A development plan the company hopes Italian authorities will approve by the end of 2010 calls for the field to produce 5,000-7,500 b/d of 17-19° gravity oil and 3.5 MMcfd of gas. The oil is in a Miocene and Cretaceous carbonate platform reservoir, and the gas is in 16 intervals in Middle-Upper Pliocene sands.
Mediterranean Oil & Gas is conducting reprocessing and inversion on 3D seismic data shot over the field and plans to reassess its contingent oil resource estimate.
Development entails a platform with five wells, including one already drilled and two dual oil and gas completions, a 10,000 b/d floating production, storage, and offloading vessel with 50,000 tonnes of storage, and a 12-km submarine pipeline.
Photo from Odfjell Drilling.
Photo from bp.
