Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 24 / Trend /
Dragon Oil plc, an international oil and gas exploration, development and production company, announced that expects to reach a production target of 100,000 barrels of oil per day ("bopd") in 2015 on the basis of a comprehensive review of the current performance and production potential of the Cheleken Contract Area that has been carried out in 2011, the company reported.
"We are currently producing approximately 67,000 bopd of crude oil and over 140 mmscfd of gas. With a total of 13 wells expected to be completed this year (ten wells have already been put into production), we anticipate the 2011 exit production to reach approximately 70,000 bopd and the growth of the average daily gross production in 2011 to be above 25%," the report reads.
Over the 2012-15 period, the company expects to be able to maintain an average gross production growth of 10% to 15% per annum, taking the gross field production to a level of 100,000 bpd in 2015, and to sustain this plateau for a minimum period of five years.
Dragon Oil is continuously assessing options to enhance oil recovery from the reservoir, including an on-going evaluation of the merits of a water injection program on the Dzheitune (Lam) field. The results from preliminary infectivity tests are encouraging and the Group intends to implement a pilot water injection project in 2012. The Turkmenistan Government has approved the tendering for equipment for this pilot water injection project, which is the first step before a potential implementation on a wider scale. If successful, there is a possibility to increase further the total recovery of oil from the field and to increase production beyond 100,000 bopd.
"Delivery of these production targets, including the attaining of the plateau production level of 100,000 bopd in 2015, is supported by a development plan that envisages deployment of up to three jack-up rigs, additional platform-based rigs, construction of new platforms and execution of a range of key infrastructure projects.," the report reads.
Dragon Oil's principal producing asset is in the Cheleken Contract Area, in the eastern section of the Caspian Sea, offshore Turkmenistan.
Dragon Oil (Turkmenistan) Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Dragon Oil plc, holds 100% interest in and is the operator of the Production Sharing Agreement for the Cheleken Contract Area. The operational focus is on the re-development of two oil-producing fields, Dzheitune (Lam) and Dzhygalybeg (Zhdanov).