April 15, 2010
A
development plan has been announced by Po Valley Energy (ASX: PVE) to
bring its Bezzecca gas field in northern Italy into production by 2012.
The field will be the Company’s fourth production field in Italy,
following the start-up early this year of its Castello field east of
Milan, which produced 190 million cubic feet in the first quarter, the
imminent maiden production from its Sillaro field east of Bologna and
Sant’Alberto, currently under application, which is north of Bologna.
Po Valley said today it expected to lodge next month the development
plan for Bezzecca, also near Milan, with the Italian Ministry.
“Our field assessment work confirmed that our best strategy is to put
the Bezzecca-1 appraisal well into production first by connecting it to
the existing Castello surface plant via an eight kilometre gathering
line and then drill a second production well, Bezzecca-2” Po Valley
Chief Executive Officer, Mr Michael Masterman, said today.
“Bezzecca-1 was drilled to a depth of 2,010 metres in April last year
and tested at a combined flow rate of 3.8 million cubic feet per day
across three gas bearing levels” Mr Masterman said.
“Our reservoir evaluation work over the past 12 months indicates that
the field’s geology is more complicated and reservoir characterization
more difficult to define than in our other projects in northern Italy
and there is uncertainty over key levels not tested in Bezzecca-1 which
comprised the original reserves estimate”.
Taken in combination, these factors substantially reduce the estimated
volume of gas that is expected to be recovered from the gas bearing
reservoirs accessed by the Bezzecca-1 well.
The two-well production plan will access a revised 2P reserves estimate
of 3 bcf. Combined production rates from the two Bezzecca wells is
expected to be about 2 million cubic feet per day”.
Mr Masterman said that, while future drilling could indicate upside
potential from the Bezzecca field, the Company had made the appropriate
decision to revise current estimates downwards to 3 bcf. This is based
on the results of the substantial reservoir modeling work undertaken by
the Company in the past 12 months.
Mr Masterman said that, once the Bezzecca development plan was submitted
to the Italian Ministry in May, the Company expected preliminary award
of the production concession by early in 2011 and full award, following
environmental approval, in 2012, allowing installation and production
start-up.
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Drilling Bezzecca-1, April 2009
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MEDIA CONTACTS:
Michael Masterman
Po Valley Energy
0417 851 303
Kevin Skinner
Field Public Relations
(08) 8234 9555 / 0414 822 631
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