Prinos annual oil output hits 1m barrels for first time in 15 years

Energean Oil & Gas, the international oil and gas exploration and production company focused on the Mediterranean and North Africa, has achieved an annual oil production level of one million barrels – so far in 2016 – for the first time since 2001, Konstantinos Nikolaou, the company’s technical adviser, has told an industry conference organized by IENE, the Institute of Energy for Southeast Europe.

The official also told of the company’s plan to conduct its first round of hydrocarbon drilling activity at its onshore block in Ioannina, northwest Greece, between 2019 and 2020, adding that geophysical seismic research covering a 400-kilometer line is planned to begin next spring.

The company-owned Energean Force drilling facility is just one of nine currently conducting drills in the southeast Mediterranean, Nikolaou pointed out.

The company official also infomed that Energean has requested and received offers from specialized Greek and foreign companies for the construction of a new platform, to be dubbed “Lamda”, for utilization of its “Epsilon” deposit in the Prinos area. It has been forty years since an oil rig platform was last installed in Greece.

Energean Oil & Gas has set itself a target of reaching a production level of 10,000 barrels per day (bpd) by the end of 2018 through three additional drills in Prinos, one in North Prinos, and seven planned at the “Epsilon” deposit, the company’s technical adviser noted.

At present, four company drills – of 15 planned – are producing at a rate of approximately 5,000 bpd.

Energean is currently preparing a utilization plan for a proven deposit in Katakolo, western Greece, as well as surveys of other sections linked to this license. Also, negotiations with Greek State authorities are at an advanced stage for the signing of a contract concerning a license in Etoloakarnania, also in Greece’s west.

As for the company’s activities beyond Greece, Energean recently purchased two Israeli natural gas deposits, Tanin and Karish, in the Levantine Sea, from Anver Oil and Gas and Delek Drilling, both members of Israel’s Delek Group. The two deposits contain a proven natural gas quantity of 2.4 trillion cubic feet and 25 milllion barrels of light crude oil, also proven. Energean is waiting for Israeli authorities to endorse the deal before a development plan is shaped.

Energean also plans to conduct two drills in Egypt’s West Kim Ombo area within the next few months. The company is also awaiting approval from the Montenegrin parliament of a hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation agreement signed with the country’s government for two offshore blocks in the Adriatic Sea.