OREANDA-NEWS. Eni has started production from Nene Marine field, offshore Congo, just eight months after obtaining the production permit and 16 months following the exploration discovery. The field is located in Marine XII Block, approximately 17 km from the coast.

The start of production reflects another important success for Eni in Congo, a few days after the announcement of the excellent results of the test of Minsala Marine 1 well, also located in Marine XII Block.

The Nene Marine field, located at a water depth of 28 meters and close to existing plants, produces from Djeno pre-salt formation 2.5 km below the ground level.

The complete development of the field will take place in several stages and will include the installation of production platforms and the drilling of over 30 wells, with a plateau of over 140,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d).

The production of the first phase is 7,500 boe/d. It is collected from a platform installed on the purpose and is subsequently sent for treatment on the Zatchi production platform, operated by Eni, via a subsea pipeline with a length of 17 km.

During the production test Nene Marine 3 well delivered in excess of 5,000 barrels of oil per day with a density of 36° API.

In recent years Eni has discovered approximately 3.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent of resources in the Congolese Marine XII Block, of which 1.5 billion are attributable to Nene Marine field, which offers new developments currently under further delineation activities. The last discovery of Eni in Congo was made just over a month ago through the Minsala Marine 1 exploration well, which spontaneously provided over 5,000 barrels of light oil with a density of 41° API.

Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi commented: "The startup of Nene Marine field achieved just eight months after obtaining the production permit is a great result for Eni, and confirms our strategy of rapid exploitation of exploration resources, thanks to the technical and planning capabilities of the company and the integration of exploration, operational and development efficiency".

Eni, through its own subsidiary Eni Congo SA, is operator of Marine XII with a 65% share stake. The other partners are New Age (25%) and Societe Nationale des Petroles du Congo (10%). Eni has been operating in Congo since 1968 and currently produces approximately 110,000 barrels of oil per day of equity production. Eni has been present in Sub-Saharan Africa since the "60s and is currently involved in exploration and production projects in Angola, Congo, Ghana, Gabon, Mozambique, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Liberia and South Africa. Eni currently produces around 450,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in Sub-Saharan Africa, thanks to successful and rapidly growing exploration activity.