Eni avvia la produzione di petrolio in Egitto sulla terraferma nel giacimento Arcadia
● Eni è il maggior produttore di petrolio con 230 000 b petrolio equivalenti/giorno;
o nel 2009, nel Deserto Occidentale egiziano, Eni ha prodotto oltre 37 000 b di petrolio/giorno (??), da 6 diverse concessioni, tutte gestite da Agiba.
– Eni avvia la produzione di petrolio a soli 45 giorni dalla scoperta del nuovo giacimento petrolifero di Arcadia 1X, deserto occidentale egiziano, nella storica concessione di Meleiha, proveniente dal Cretaceo inferiore,
o di cui ENI detiene dal 1987 il 56%, tramite la sua filiale Ieoc; ne detengono le quote rimanenti Lukoil (24%) e Mitsui (20%).
o L’operatore del progetto Arcadia è Agiba, detenuta alla parti da Ieoc ed Egyptian General Petroleum (EGPC).
– Nel 2010 e 2011 saranno perforati altri 4 pozzi, per una produzione complessiva di 3000 b/petrolio equivalenti.
– Confermati altri depositi di gas a maggiore profondità, risalenti al Giurassico.
DARRELL A. HUGHES e TESS STYNES
– Si aggiungono ad una crescente lista di gruppi esteri colpiti da forti multe per corruzione in PVS
● il gruppo del petrolio e del gas italiano, Eni, e la sua ex filiale olandese Snamprogetti BV,
o che devono pagare $365 per liquidare le accuse mosse dalla commissione americana U.S. Securites and Exchange Commission (SEC) e dal dipartimento della Giustizia,
o secondo cui ha versato oltre $180 mn. a funzionari del governo nigeriano per ottenere contratti per la costruzione di un impianto per il gas naturale liquefatto;
o di cui $240 mn. il prezzo pagato da Snamprogetti per evitare il procedimento penale, per sé, per Saipem SpA (sua attuale casa madre) ed Eni (sua ex casa madre).
– Snamprogetti faceva parte di una joint venture che ha ottenuto contratti per la costruzione di strutture per il gas in Nigeria
– L’accordo attuale porta ad oltre $1,28 MD il costo pagato da joint venture di società che comprendevano Technip SA, KBR Inc e la sua precedente casa madre Halliburton Co.
– Lo scorso mese Technip ha concordato il pagamento di $240 mn. per simili accuse da parte del SEC.
TAGS: Egitto exploration and production activities onshore oil
The drilling of the Arcadia 1X well is part of Eni’s strategy to refocus exploration activities in Egypt by targeting deeper layers in the Western Desert as well as better appraising already discovered volumes.
San Donato Milanese (MI), 28 July 2010 – Eni has started oil production from the new Arcadia field, in the Western Desert of Egypt, only 45 days after its discovery.
The Arcadia 1X well, located in the historical Meleiha Concession, has been put into production from the “Alam El Bueib‘ formation (Lower Cretaceous) thanks to synergies with the nearby operated facilities of Meleiha. Additional gas potential has been also proved by testing the well in the deeper Katatba formation (Jurassic).
– Eni has owned a 56% participating interest in the Meleiha concession since 1987, through its fully owned affiliate Ieoc, with the remainder owned by Lukoil and Mitsui with 24% and 20%, respectively.
– Agiba, a joint operating company owned equally by Ieoc and the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC), is the operator of the Arcadia project.
The short time to market of this field is a result of Eni’s strategy to focus on fast track development of conventional and synergic assets. To fully develop the new discovery, four more wells will be drilled in 2010 and 2011, to produce up to approximately 3000 boe/day.
The drilling of the Arcadia 1X well is part of Eni’s strategy to refocus exploration activities in Egypt by targeting deeper layers in the Western Desert as well as better appraising already discovered volumes. To this end, a new 3-D seismic survey over the Melehia Concession has started, targeting deep Lower Cretaceous and Jurassic formations, which still bear significant un-exploited exploration potential in the area.
– In Egypt, Eni is the leading producer with an equity production of 230 kboed in 2009. In the Western Desert of Egypt, Eni produces more than 37,000 bopd from 6 different Development Leases, all operated by Agiba.
By DARRELL A. HUGHES And TESS STYNES
WASHINGTON—Italian oil and gas company Eni SpA and its former Dutch unit Snamprogetti Netherlands BV will pay a total $365 million to settle charges by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department in an alleged scheme in which more than $180 million in bribes were funneled to Nigerian government officials in an effort to obtain contracts to build a liquefied natural-gas plant.
– Eni and Snamprogetti consented to the settlement and court orders to jointly pay $125 million to settle the charges.
– Meanwhile, the Justice Department filed criminal charges against Snamprogetti, which led to the company’s agreement to pay $240 million in criminal penalties to avoid prosecution.
– The Justice Department said Wednesday it would drop charges in two years if Snamprogetti, its current parent company Saipem SpA and its former owner Eni abide by agreed-upon terms.
Snamprogetti was part of a joint venture that received contracts to build liquefied natural-gas facilities in Nigeria.
"The monetary penalties and enforcement actions that have resulted from this investigation should send a clear message to companies and their employees that using foreign bribery as a means of winning contracts abroad will be punished," a Justice Department assistant attorney general, Mythili Raman, said in a statement.
Since the allegations, the companies have made "substantial enhancements" to their anticorruption compliance programs, according to a statement on Saipem’s website.
"Saipem SpA and its subsidiaries are committed to continuous improvements to their internal compliance program and policies," the statement read.
– The settlement brings the total paid to settle cases related to the bribery scheme to more than $1.28 billion from a joint venture of companies that also included Technip SA, KBR Inc. and its former parent Halliburton Co.
– Last month, Technip agreed to pay $240 million to settle a similar SEC complaint.
– Eni and Snamprogetti join a growing list of foreign companies hit with substantial fines for allegedly violating antibribery laws in third-world countries.