Petrom starts up oil production from two Black Sea wells

On September 14, Petrom announced its first oil production from the recently drilled offshore wells Delta 6 and Lebada Vest 04. Both fields, Delta and Lebada Vest, are located in the offshore block Histria XVIII in the Black Sea.
Johann Pleininger, Petrom Executive Board Member responsible for Exploration and Production, "This recent production start-up on Delta field in the second half of this year is a great achievement, taking into consideration the technical difficulties we have experienced during drilling Delta 6. As the concept of extended reach drilling has proved to be successful, Delta 6 might become our most valuable well in Romania."

The hydrocarbons potential of Delta offshore field was confirmed in 2007, through the results achieved by the exploration well Delta 4. In 2008, the field development was reassessed in order to reduce risks and the level of investments needed.
Therefore, the drilling of an extended reach horizontal well, Delta 6, was decided. Delta 6 covers now a horizontal distance of 3,500 m to the reservoir at a total well length of more than 4,600 m.

Delta 6 started production through the existing Petrom offshore facilities at Platform 7 in the first part of Q3/09. The well is currently producing at a reduced testing rate of approximately 2,200 boepd, until finalization of the expansion of the surface facilities. The maximum rate of 3,400 boepd is expected to be reached in Q4/09.
The knowledge gained from Delta 6 was successfully applied to another newly drilled well, Lebada Vest 4, which was brought on stream towards the end of August. Lebada Vest 4 is currently producing 900 boepd.

Test results obtained until now have confirmed the potential of both wells to deliver together more than 4,500 boepd by the end of this year.
Currently, the cumulated production of the two new wells accounts for approximately 10 % of Petrom's daily offshore production, which stands at 32,000 boepd. Reaching the maximum production on the two wells will enable Petrom to increase the output from the offshore facilities to more than 33,000 boepd and to extend the economic lifetime of the facilities.