Perla largest Venezuela offshore gas find ever, says Eni

April 12, 2010
Follow-up drilling to the late 2009 gas discovery at Perla, offshore Venezuela, confirms the discvoery as "one of the most significant in recent years and the largest ever in Venezuela," according to Eni.

Offshore staff

MILAN, Italy -- Follow-up drilling to the late 2009 gas discovery at Perla, offshore Venezuela, confirms the discvoery as "one of the most significant in recent years and the largest ever in Venezuela," according to Eni. The second shallow water Gulf of Venezuela well, Perla 2, exceeded expectations and has increased Eni's initial reserves estimation by30%.

Perla 2, in 60 m (198 ft) of water, found 260 m (840 ft) of net pay in a carbonate sequence with good reservoir characteristics. Production testing flowed 50 MMcf/d plus 1,500 b/d of condensate. Eni says normalized production per well should be more than 70 MMcf/d and 2,000 b/d of condensate.

The Cardon IV block is a joint operation of Eni and Repsol, each with 50% interest. Petroles de Venezuela, the state oil company, has 35% back-in rights it can exercise in the development phase.

04/12/2010