OMV: Successful appraisal of the Zola gas discovery offshore Australia
July 16 2013 - 10:00 am (CET)
- Bianchi-1 appraisal well makes a further gas discovery
- Important step in progressing Zola to development
OMV, the integrated, international oil and gas company, confirms the successful appraisal of the Zola gas discovery with the drilling of the Bianchi-1 appraisal well. Wireline logging and pressure testing in Bianchi-1 confirm the presence of multiple gas bearing sands having in total approximately 112 meters of net gas pay.
Bianchi-1 is located in the WA-49-R license in the offshore Carnarvon Basin, 6.4 km north-northeast of the Zola-1/ST1 gas discovery and in an area south of the giant Gorgon gas field. The Bianchi-1 well targeted a number of sandstone reservoirs in the Triassic age Mungaroo Formation down dip of the large Zola-1/ST1 gas discovery made in 2011.
The Bianchi fault block is one of a series of adjacent features that form the greater Zola structure. The prospect was matured following interpretation of the Cambozola 3D seismic survey in 2012.
The well has been drilled by the Ocean America semisubmersible rig as a vertical well in a water depth of 240 m under the operatorship of Apache. The well was drilled in 94 days to a total depth of 5,400 m below sea level. The net gas pay figures above are based on the operator’s initial analysis. Following completion of logging operations the well will be plugged and abandoned.
Jaap Huijskes, member of the OMV Executive Board responsible for Exploration and Production (E&P): “Bianchi-1 is the first follow-up to OMV's exciting Zola gas discovery in Australia and is an important step in progressing Zola to development.”
Background information:
WA-49-R Joint Venture
OMV Australia: 20%
Apache (Operator): 30.25%
Santos: 24.75%
JX Nippon: 15%
Tap Oil: 10%
OMV Australia Pty Ltd
OMV Australia Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of OMV Aktiengesellschaft, has been active in Australia since 1999. OMV Australia has interests in four exploration licenses and two retention licenses, one of which includes the Zola gas discovery made in 2011. These licenses are all located in the offshore Carnarvon Basin on the North West Shelf of Australia.
OMV Aktiengesellschaft
With Group sales of EUR 42.65 bn and a workforce of around 29,000 employees in 2012, OMV Aktiengesellschaft is Austria’s largest listed industrial company. In Exploration and Production, OMV is active in two core countries Romania and Austria and holds a balanced international portfolio. OMV had proven oil and gas reserves of approximately 1.12 bn boe as of year-end 2012 and a production of around 303,000 boe/d in 2012. In Gas and Power, OMV sold approximately 437 TWh of gas in 2012. In Austria, OMV operates a 2,000 km long gas pipeline network with a marketed capacity of around 103 bcm in 2012. With a trading volume of around 528 TWh, OMV’s gas trading platform, the Central European Gas Hub, is amongst the most important hubs in Continental Europe. In Refining and Marketing, OMV has an annual refining capacity of 22 mn t and as of the end of 2012 approximately 4,400 filling stations in 13 countries including Turkey. OMV further strengthened its position through the ownership of a 97% stake in Petrol Ofisi, Turkey’s leading company in the retail and commercial business.
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