Eni Announces Major New Discovery In Barents Sea

Eni announced Monday Havis oil and gas discovery in the Barents Sea, about 200 km off the Norwegian cost.

The discovery, made with the Havis 1 NFW exploration well in a 365 meter area of water and at a depth of approximately 1,750 meters, revealed between 190 and 315 Mbbl of recoverable oil and between 4 and 6 GScm of gas.

Havis field represents the second major success in a row obtained by the company in the PL 532 Licence, after Skrugard’s discovery in 2011 drilled just 7 km from the new discovery.

The recoverable oil reserves unveiled in the PL 532 Licence area, which also includes the Skrugard discovery, amounts now to around 500Mbbl. This will provide the partners with the potential to carry out a fast and cost-effective development plan for the discoveries. Eni plans to carry out further exploration activities in the Barents Sea in 2012, where the company will drill the Bønna prospect in the PL 529 license area and the Salina prospect in the PL 533 license area. In autumn 2012, Eni will also start drilling 22 production wells for the Goliat project.

Havis discovery will allow Eni to further strengthen its leadership in the Barents Sea where it will be the first operator to produce oil in 2013 with the launch of Goliath. Eni will also be the only company, together with Statoil, to be present in all the three commercial oil discoveries in the Barents Sea.
Eni holds a 30% stake in Havis; the other partners in the project are Statoil (50% and operator) and Petoro (20%).

Eni has been present in Norway since 1965, with current equity production of approximately 135,000 boe/day. With Goliat, Skrugard and Havis in its portfolio, Eni now has a 30-year outlook for its activities in the Barents Sea developing a strong foothold in the early phase of an emerging oil province on the Norwegian continental shelf.