PA Resources: First oil from Zarat in 2020

Swedish PA Resources has submitted an updated Zarat Field Plan of Development to the Tunisian authorities.

The development plans has been developed by an integrated team comprising of staff from both PA Resources and the state oil company, ETAP (L’Entreprise Tunisienne d’Activités Pétrolières).

The Zarat Field is a large, shallow-water, gas-condensate and oil field containing estimated recoverable reserves of 147 mmboe. According to PA Resources, it is Tunisia’s largest undeveloped field. The Swedish firm also said that production from Zarat Field will be critical in alleviating a forecast future gas supply deficit in Tunisia.

The Zarat Field extends across two license tracts; the Zarat license to the south and the Joint Oil block to the north. The parties in the Zarat license are PA Resources Tunisia as operator and ETAP. ETAP has the option to back-in to the southern tract for up to a 55% working interest, in which scenario PA Resources would retain 45%, and a decision on this back-in option follows shortly after acceptance of the Plan of Development. The northern tract is held by Joint Oil, which was formed as a joint entity between ETAP (Tunisia) and the National Oil Company (Libya).

Proposed development plan

 

The proposed development is in two phases, with Phase 1 comprising four production wells and production facilities to process and export 20,000 bbls/d of oil and 100 mmscfg/d of raw gas. Phase 2 comprises a further four development wells, with expanded facilities to increase capacity to 40,000 bbls/d and 200 mmscf/d of raw gas. First oil would be expected in 2020.

The Plan of Development makes full use of existing Gulf of Gabes infrastructure for the reinjection of CO2, the export of sales gas to shore, onshore gas processing and extraction of the LPG stream. The Zarat facilities also have the potential to act as a hub to facilitate development of nearby stranded oil and gas fields in the eastern Gulf of Gabes, such as PA Resources’ Elyssa gas field, the company has said.

Investment decision in 2017

 

Following acceptance of the Zarat Field Plan of Development by the Tunisian authorities, the project will enter a front-end engineering design phase with project sanction during 2017.

PA Resources CEO, Mark McAllister said: “We are delighted to have reached this milestone on the Zarat Field. The Plan of Development is the result of dedicated work and close collaboration between PA Resources and ETAP, which has achieved total alignment on the optimum approach to maximise resource recovery and value from the Zarat Field. The phased approach to development allows reduced capital outlay to achieve commercial production from what is a most important field development for Tunisia.”

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