OREANDA-NEWS. July 16, 2012. OGX and MPX, in partnership with Petra Energia, began the completion stage for production wells in the Gaviao Real field in the Parnaiba Basin, with a view to starting production of natural gas, scheduled for the second half of this year. The companies are pioneers in the development of a natural gas production project integrated with generation of electric power in the region.

The completion stage involves a set of operations that are performed after the drilling of the wells in order to fit them out ready for production. So far, 11 out of the 16 wells that begin operation this year have already been drilled. The completion process is being carried out by the Tuscany 106 drilling rig, leased to operate exclusively in this region. The companies’ activities in Maranhao can now call on four rigs in total, three of which for drilling wells and one for well completion. A fifth unit is also expected to arrive within the next few months.

In tandem with this these activities, the companies are moving ahead with the construction of the Gas Treatment Unit (GTU) and with two units of the Parnaiba Thermoelectric Power Plant, with installed capacity of 1,193 megawatts, both located in the municipality of Santo Antonio dos Lopes. The total licensed capacity of the power plant amounts to 3,722 MW.

The gas produced in the region will go to the Parnaiba Power Plant to generate electrical power. Production may reach as much as 6 million cubic feet per day of natural gas, sufficient to increase current production of onshore gas in Brazil by 40%.

OGX and MPX have eight exploratory blocks in the Parnaiba Basin, with a total area of more than 24,500 km?. Drilling activities in the region began in 2010.