Operations
Ascent is the Operator of the Petišovci Project which lies in the north-eastern corner of Slovenia on the borders with Hungary and Croatia.
Ascent holds a 75% interest in the Petišovci Project with the remaining 25% held by its Joint Venture (“JV”) partner Geoenergo. The current concession was awarded to Geoenergo in 2002 and is due for renewal in 2022.
The field contains independently verified P50 contingent gas resources of 456 Bcf based on a report by RPS which was prepared in 2011 and updated in 2013.
Ascent has been involved in the project since 2007 on which over €43 million has been spent to the end of 2016. Ascent is liable for 100% of the costs and in return will receive 90% of the revenues until all costs are recovered.
The Company drilled two wells, Pg-10 and Pg-11 in 2010/2011 which demonstrated that gas could be flowed in commercial volumes from previously unproduced (Pg-10) and previously undiscovered (Pg-11A) reservoirs.
Since the wells were drilled the Company has been working to bring gas to market. Following agreements signed in July 2016 we expect to begin selling gas in Q1 2017. The development of the field is expected to take place in two phases.
NEWS & MEDIA
Colin Hutchinson, CEO of Ascent Resources #AST, goes over some of the highlights from their Interim Results and explains why they’ve changed their adviser.
| Year | Type | File Name | View | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | UK Investor Show Presentation | |||
| 2017 | Company Fact Sheet | |||
| 2011 | Petišovci Commerciality Report |
Phase One: Export untreated gas to Croatia
- This was made possible in July 2016 when a Gas Sales Agreement was signed with INA Industrija Nafte dd. (Croatia’s leading Oil & Gas Company) who agreed to purchase untreated gas from the JV at the Croatian border.
- At the same time, Ascent acquired a Slovenia registered company, Trameta, giving us access to the export pipeline which connects to INA’s field at Medjimurje.
- We are in the process of recompleting wells, refurbishing equipment and connecting pipelines to deliver gas to market in Q1 2017.
- This will allow us to put the wells onto test production with a view to confirming long term well performance, developing our understanding of the reservoirs and build up cash balances which will enable the project to move into phase two.
Phase Two: Sell gas into the Slovenian national grid
- Before gas from Petišovci can be injected into the national or international grid it needs to be cleaned to remove excess carbon dioxide. In order to do this the JV will install a Gas Processing plant at Petišovci.
- Under Directives adopted by all EU Governments, the installation of the Processing Plant requires an IPPC Permit.
- The application was completed in July 2014 and submitted to the Environment Agency (“ARSO”) for approval.
- In June 2015 ARSO announced that, following the completion of a public consultation, the Permit had been provisionally awarded, subject to appeal.
- In August 2015, the JV received notification that two non-governmental organisations had lodged appeals.
- These were rejected by the Slovenian Environment Minister in November 2015.
- A further appeal was made to the Administrative Court which ruled, in May 2016, that the IPPC Permit should be withdrawn. The reason given by the Court was that, after the original application was made in June 2014, the relevant law was changed and the process that was followed did not accord to the new law. This is despite the new law explicitly stating that any applications submitted (but not yet resolved) prior to the effective date for the new law should be pursued exclusively under the old rules.
- In November 2016 following the submission of further paperwork by the JV partners to rectify the apparent defects identified by the Court, the ARSO ruled that the permit could be awarded.
- A further appeal has been lodged but the Company and its partners expect to receive the permit in final form some time in 2017.
- Once the permit has been received in final form the JV partners will begin to acquire and install the equipment needed to start producing into the national grid.
- The Gas Processing Plant will be capable of handling significantly increased production which we plan to achieve by rehabilitating old wells and drilling new wells.
75%
interest in project
3,500M
depth drilled
456Bcf
gas-in-place
8.8 MMscf
test result
3D Seismic Survey
In 2009 we initiated the acquisition of an extensive 3D seismic survey across the Petišovci area. This was the first ever 3D seismic acquired in Slovenia and the permitting for this required the agreement of over 10,000 landowners.
Interpretation of the seismic data provided a greater insight into the field structure and indicated zones of potentially better reservoir quality. The structure has two sets of reservoirs, the shallower Upper Miocene and the deeper Middle and Lower Miocene. The deeper Miocene reservoirs are Ascent’s main development objective. The shallower reservoirs were developed during the 1960s and in the future we propose to experiment with modern, enhanced, oil recovery techniques to attempt to recover the remaining reserves.
