Second Prinos drilling project done, headed for production

Energean Oil & Gas, the international oil and gas exploration and production company focused on the Mediterranean and North Africa, has completed a second drilling project at its offshore Prinos oil field in northern Greece, with its company-owned drilling rig, and is already conducting trial production runs.

Once full-scale production commences at this oil field, Energean’s Prinos-area oil production is expected to exceed 3,500 barrels per day, which promises to bolster the company’s overall standing, helped by the recent partial recovery of international oil prices.

Energean is currently conducting its biggest exploration endeavor in the wider Gulf of Kavala region since 1981, when production at Prinos began. The company has scheduled a total of fifteen drilling projects, beginning with seven in the Prinos area. Once these seven drilling projects are completed, the company anticipates its oil production will exceed 5,000 barrels per day. Seven of the endeavor’s other eight drilling projects will be conducted at its Epsilon oil field, while the final drill will take place at the Prinos North oil field.

Overall, the company plans to pump 30 million barrels of proven reserves in the Gulf of Kavala, based on an estimate provided by ERC Equipose, a leading British oil and gas reservoir evaluation firm. At full capacity, Energean expects to be pumping about 10,000 barrels per day from the Gulf of Kavala.

Mathios Rigas, Energean’s chief executive, who delivered a speech at an energy conference in Athens yesterday, said a boost in production levels represents the only way to withstand lower oil prices. An oil production rate of 5,000 barrels per day is enough to handle oil price levels at 30 dollars per barrel, which would ensure ongoing production at Prinos, as well as jobs, for a further fifteen to twenty years.