Page 10 - Euroil Week 28 2019

EurOil POLICY EurOil
Ascent threatens Slovenia with legal claims
SLOVENIA
Ascent has a dif cult history of regulatory obstacles in Slovenia.
LONDON-LISTED Ascent Resources has warned it could take the Slovenian government to court over its insistence that an environmental impact assessment (EIA) is needed for well oper- ations in the country’s north-east.
In mid-June, the Slovenian Environmen- tal Agency (ARSO) argued that the company would need an EIA to carry out stimulation work at wells Pg-10 and Pg-11A at the Petisovci gas project. Ascent and its local partner Geoenergo contested the decision, but their appeal was dis- missed by Slovenia’s environment ministry.
In a stock exchange ling on July 16, Ascent said it had lodged a fresh appeal at an adminis- trative court, threatening legal action if the gov- ernment did not change its position.
“The decision of ARSO and the environ- ment ministry ignores the opinion of the six independent expert bodies whose advice ARSO sought,” Ascent claimed. “In breach of EU law, the decision also mistakenly concluded that
the project fell within a conservation area and misapplied EU case law in relation to mitigation measures.”
e company warned it was now preparing to le legal claims against Slovenia in both domes- tic and international courts.
Ascent has a 75% stake in Petisovci, while Geoenergo holds 25%. e former began work- ing at the site in 2007. It began redevelopment of the eld four years later by drilling two deep wells that con rmed 12.9bn cubic metres in ver- i ed P50 contingent gas resources. It went on to establish production in late 2017 and by the end of last year had invested €50mn ($56mn) in the project.
e company has had a series of di culties with permitting in Slovenia, and views this as the main brake on its progress. It notably had to wait several years for a pollution prevention and control licence at Petisovci, which was nally granted in April. ™
PROJECTS & COMPANIES
Equinor approves next Gudrun stage
NORWAY
An EPCI contract for the water injection plant has already been awarded.
NORWAY’S Equinor and its partners have signed o on the second stage of development at the o shore Gudrun oil and gas eld in the North Sea.
e state oil producer said in a statement on July 16 that the group had taken a nal invest- ment decision (FID) on construction of a water injection plant, designed to boost the field’s recovery rates. e project, costing NOK2.4bn ($280mn), will also involve the drilling of a new production well.
e 1974 Gudrun discovery came on stream in 2014, with output maxing out at 97,700 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2017, before dipping to 74,600 boepd the following year.
According to Equinor, the new investment will extend the eld’s operational life by another three years, helping to recover more of its esti- mated 184mn boe of remaining oil and gas.
“Water injection will improve recovery from the reservoir and utilise existing infrastructure on the field,” Equinor project director Tom Elseth commented. “ is is a robust and good project.”
Equinor operates Gudrun’s production licence with a 36% stake. Its partners include private equity-backed Neptune Energy, which
has a 25% interest, Austria’s OMV with 24% and Spain’s Repsol with 15%.
Stavanger-based services provider Aibel, which won front-end engineering design (FEED) work for a new develop- ment phase last year, has been selected as an engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contractor for the water injection plant, under a deal worth NOK500mn ($58.5mn). It has also gained a second oil well contract at the eld valued at NOK600mn ($70.2mn).
Work will start immediately, and up to 160 personnel will be involved in the project both onshore and o shore at its peak.
“ e accommodation on the Gudrun plat- form is small. To be able to carry out o shore modi cations and complete the work by 2021, we must use the Rowan Stavanger rig while it is carrying out scheduled production drilling on the eld,” Elseth added.
The Gudrun development consists of one fixed steel platform tied back to facilities at Equinor’s Sleipner elds 55km to the south. e eld’s reservoirs lie 4,000-4,760 metres under the seabed, and are subject to high pressure and high temperatures.™
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 28 18•July•2019