Eni has made a new gas discovery in the Sicilian Strait, about 20km off the coast of Agrigento, through the Argo 2 well. The Argo 2 discovery (Eni is the operator with a 60% share, Edison 40%), located at a water depth of approximately 500 metres, follows the recent Cassiopea 1 well gas discovery.
The adjacent Argo 1 well gas discovery (made in 2006) was confirmed by the Argo 2 well, and in addition Eni discovered new amounts of gas at a higher water depth. Preliminary tests on the new discovery have shown a production of around 170,000 cubic metres of gas per day.
The Argo 2 discovery confirms the high potential of the Sicilian Strait deep offshore area, where the neighbouring Panda and Cassiopea fields are also located. A fast development plan is now being studied in order to create synergies between these fields. The potential of the area is estimated at approximately 18 billion cubic metres of recoverable reserves.
The success of this exploration testifies Eni's commitment to research for hydrocarbons in frontier environments such as deep water, as well as the great attention paid to exploration and development of mining resources in Italy. The Argo 2 new discovery will contribute to the increase of Eni's equity production in Italy, which currently amounts to approximately 200,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
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