LJUBLJANA (Slovenia), February 5 (SeeNews) – UK-listed Ascent Resources has put its PG-11A well in Slovenia's Petisovci tight gas field back into production following recent increases in local gas prices, it said on Friday.
The PG-11A well, one of the two development wells of Ascent in Petisovci, was put back into production with a view to accreting additional revenues as gas prices in Slovenia rose by about 175% from the mid-2020 levels of circa 7 euro per MWh, the company said in a filing with the Ljubljana Stock Exchange.
The relaunch of production at the well, which had previously been shut in since December 2019, will also enable an evaluation of the source of the pressure anomaly and remedial action following a recently observed pressure anomaly building up in its annulus and tubing, Ascent said.
The well began flowing on February 4 with an initial production rate equivalent to circa 12,000 standard cubic metres per day (scm/d) and will be monitored over the course of the next week for a stabilised production rate. The second well, PG-10 is currently producing at circa 5,000 scm/d.
Ascent is in direct negotiations with Slovenia with a view to potentially settling its litigation claims against the country in an amicable manner in the short term, it said.
In 2019, Ascent said it will demand 50 million euro ($59.9 million) in damages which claims it incurred as a direct result of a decision of the Slovenian environment ministry requiring an environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the re-stimulation of producing wells in Petisovci.
The company holds a 75% interest in the Petisovci project, which lies in the northeastern corner of Slovenia between Hungary and Croatia, and its joint venture partner Geoenergo holds the remaining 25%. The current concession was awarded to Geoenergo in 2002 and is due for renewal in 2022.
($ = 0.834799 euro)