By the OGJ Online Staff
LONDON, May 17 -- Melrose Resources PLC said Thursday that its subsidiary, Petreco Sarl, has signed a deal with the Bulgarian state-owned energy agency to explore the shallow water Kaliakra 99 concession in the Black Sea.
The agreement follows an deal inked yesterday between the Scottish independent and Bulgaria to begin development within 6 months of the offshore Galata gas field concession.
The Galata concession was carved out of a 1,690 sq km area of exploration Block 91-III, where Petreco recently wrapped up a 729 km 2D seismic survey over "a number of leads" in the northern part of the block. Melrose said Galata has proven reserves of 49 bcf and probable reserves of 80 bcf.
Kaliakra 99 is southeast of Block 91-III, crossing over parts of the old Blocks II and IV, awarded in the early 1990s to Enterprise Oil PLC and BG PLC.
The new 2,601 sq km area, said Melrose, includes "a number of attractive prospects" in waters of 20-500 m, along with the 1986 Samotino More R-1 discovery, which was tested at rates up to 9.5 MMcfd of gas and 204 b/d of condensate.
Melrose said its work commitment at Kaliakra 99 for the first 3-year period included reprocessing and interpreting 300 km of 500 km of seismic acquired from the Bulgarian authorities. The concession may be renewed for two further 2-year periods.