Energean secures exploitation license for West Katakolon, offshore Western Greece
ATHENS, Greece -- The Greek Ministry of Energy and Energean Oil & Gas, an independent oil and gas E&P company in the Eastern Mediterranean, have agreed the conversion of the exploration license for the proven West Katakolon offshore field to a 25-year exploitation license with immediate effect. The West Katakolon Exploitation area is part of the Katakolon Concession Area and covers a 60 km2 area, with circa 10 MMbbl recoverable oil. Energean will be the operator of the field development.
West Katakolon is the third oil and gas field to go into development in Greece, following on from Prinos oil field and South Kavala natural gas field, both located offshore in the North Aegean Sea. Both of these fields are operated by Energean. A Field Development Plan (FDP) will be submitted to the Ministry of Energy by the end of February. Drilling is planned for 2018 and will use Extended Reach Drilling (ERD) technology to drill from onshore to offshore reservoirs.
The FDP for West Katakolon will be Energean’s third offshore plan in process over the next few years, alongside those for the 15-MMbbl Epsilon oil field, also in the Prinos Concession, and the much larger proven Karish and Tanin natural gas fields, offshore Israel. Energean recently announced the acquisition of the world-class 2.4-Tcf resource Karish and Tanin fields from Delek Drilling and Avner for $148 million.
Mathios Rigas, CEO of Energean, commented: “The progression of West Katakolon into its development phase is an important milestone for both Energean and Greece. It will be the first-ever hydrocarbon production programme in the west of the country and a major boost to the economy following the challenges of the last few years. We are committing to the $50-million investment in Katakolon, as a first step in seeking to open up the oil and gas opportunities in this highly promising territory – an area with similar geology to the wider Adriatic Zone, well known for its prolific hydrocarbon systems in Italy, Albania and Croatia.”
