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Working to unlock the off-shore energy reserves of Abruzzo.
Working to find more off-shore energy reserves with minimum impact on the environment or coastal community.
What is Elsa 2?
The Elsa Oil field is off the coast of Abruzzo Province and covers 11.2km2.. Elsa 2 is the name of the proposed well that sits within the Elsa Oil field. It is approximately seven kilometres from the coast of Ortona. Petroceltic plans to drill Elsa 2 to collect data and information to determine whether it has the right volume and quality of oil to make production commercially viable. This exploration phase will last approximately four months.
There will be no commercial oil production at this stage, however depending on the results of the well about 2000 barrels of oil maybe be pumped to tanks to test the characteristics of the oil. The oil would then be transported ashore for sale or disposal. If Petroceltic finds commercially viable oil reserves, then it might be necessary to undertake further appraisal work – this would require a new permit from the Ministry of the Environment.
Petroceltic will end the exploration programme if there is not commercially viable oil. In this case the well will be permanently sealed using cement plugs. On completion of operations, there will be no remaining structures above the seabed.
History of Elsa
The Elsa Field was first explored in 1992 - Elsa 1 was drilled by a consortium of three companies: Eni, Elf and Enterprise. They undertook a production test but the results did not support further exploration of the well. This was due to a combination of factors such as uncertainty regarding the quality of the oil, the low reservoir pressure and the low oil prices during this period. Elsa 1 was then sealed and all equipment above the seabed removed.
With current technology it is now possible to more reliably pump oil from the reservoir with downhole pumps. If the oil quality and oil volumes meet expectations then the Elsa 2 well may be commercially viable.
