The next steps
In line with the field development programme agreed by the partners, installation of suitable production equipment is planned for the Pg-10 and Pg-11A wells, which will allow test gas production. Interconnecting pipelines to a new gas processing plant will also be constructed. All other existing pipelines and the metering and distribution station, which is a gateway into the national gas network, will be upgraded to handle the new gas production. If possible, priority access to supply will be given to local industry. After a period of test gas production to monitor reservoir performance, the partners will proceed with a strategy for the further development of the Petišovci field.
The Petišovci project is now in the detailed permitting phase to allow the implementation of this field development programme.
In the meantime, less than a kilometre from the wells is a methanol production plant which was mothballed in 2010 when a drop in methanol prices made production uneconomic. Following a recovery in methanol pricing, work could start to bring this plant back into production by end 2014. The gas from Pg-10 and Pg-11A could be sold to this plant for methanol production. The advantages of this option are that (i) the gas would need very little processing before entering the methanol plant; (ii) the local gas processing plant could manage this processing without much modification; (iii) the joint venture will receive an income which will allow investment in the field development programme to take place; and (iv) new jobs will be created in the area.