Italy-based energy company Eni has secured a production sharing contract (PSC) for an exploration area situated in the Timor Sea, Australia.
The PSC exploration area, spread over 662km², is near the offshore Kitan oil field lying within the Joint Petroleum Development Area (JPDA), managed by both Australia and Timor-Leste.
As part of the PSC, the company has committed to drill two exploration wells in the first two years and will also drill two contingent wells under separate options.
In the JPDA area, which is located at an average water depth of 350m, Eni has already discovered a number of oil prospects.
The company has plans to develop these oil prospects, along with the nearby producing Kitan field, if any discoveries are made. In October 2011, the Eni-operated Kitan oil field commenced production and reached its peak of 45,000 barrels of oil per day in 2012.
The company, with 40.53% interest, holds the operatorship of the JPDA 11-106 in joint venture with INPEX Offshore Timor-Leste, which holds a 35.47% share in the block, while Timor GAP 11-106 Unipessoal (TimorGap) holds the remaining 24% interest in the area.
In February 2013, Eni announced that it had discovered natural gas at the Coral 3 delineation well in the Mamba Complex, in Area 4, offshore of Mozambique, while a month earlier, it had drilled the first appraisal well of the Sankofa East oil discovery, Sankofa East 2A, in the Tano Basin offshore of Ghana.
Image: Location of Timor Sea. Photo courtesy of M.Minderhoud.
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