Energean’s Katakolo field development plan approved

Greek oil company Energean Oil & Gas has received approval from the country’s authorities for its Field Development Plan (FDP) for the Katakolo field in Western Greece. 

The approval was given by Hellenic Hydrocarbons Resources Management, the Greek government agency responsible for the hydrocarbon sector in the country, the oil company informed on Friday.

Energean is the operator of Katakolo and has a 100 percent working interest in the field, for which the company was granted a 25-year exploitation license in November 2016.

The Katakolo license covers onshore, shallow water and deep water acreage on the west coast of the Peloponnese. The block, covering an area of 545 km2 both offshore and onshore, contains 3 discoveries and multiple leads. The water depth is 200–300 meters, while the depth of the reservoir is 2,300-2,600 meters.

The field contains approximately 180 cubic meters of sour gas underlain by an oil rim of approximately 120 meters in a large carbonate structure with further undrilled deep potential.

The FDP application was submitted in February 2017 after Energean secured the 25-year exploitation concession and involves the development of the field through extended reach wells to drill from onshore to offshore reservoirs. The $50 million development plan is targeting the 11 mmboe of recoverable oil that was discovered in the early 1980s by the state owned Public Petroleum Corporation, but remained undeveloped for decades.

Energean plans to develop Katakolo alongside its two other current development projects, the Prinos oil field, which is part of the Prinos Concession located offshore North East Greece, and the 2.4 TCF (2C) Karish and Tanin gas fields, offshore Israel, that also received FDP approval by the Israeli Government in August 2017.

Energean said it will now start the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment for Katakolo, which will be submitted for approval in 2018. Upon approval, the company intends to take a Final Investment Decision (FID) on the project and drill the first wells in 2019, with first oil expected in 2020.

Commenting on the FDP approval, Energean’s CEO, Mathios Rigas, said: “After the approval of the FDP for Karish and Tanin by the Israeli Government in August, we are excited to also receive approval of our development plan for Katakolo from the Greek Government.

“Katakolo is a previously discovered oil and gas field that has so far remained undeveloped. Energean is now unlocking the value of this very important project for the country as well as revealing the potential for wider exploration of the East Adriatic region.”