Perla

Perla Gas Field Profile

Location

The Perla gas field is located in the Cardón IV block, situated in the Gulf of Venezuela, approximately 50 kilometers offshore. It lies at a water depth of 60 meters.

Operators and Ownership

The field is operated by Cardón IV S.A., a company jointly owned by Eni (50%) and Repsol (50%). Petróleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) holds a 35% back-in right in the development phase, which was exercised in 2014, resulting in Eni and Repsol each holding 32.5% of the interest in the project.

Discovery and Exploration

The Perla field was initially discovered in 1976, but extensive exploration activities were conducted in 2009. The Perla-1X well, drilled in 2009, encountered a 240-meter hydrocarbon column. Subsequent wells, Perla-2X, Perla-3X, and Perla-4X, drilled in 2010 and 2011, confirmed the field's high productivity and increased reserve estimates.

Reserves

The Perla field is estimated to hold 17 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas in place, which corresponds to approximately 3.1 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe). The field has significant additional potential for gas reserves.

Geology

The field's reservoir consists of Mio-Oligocene age carbonates located at approximately 3,000 meters below sea level. The geology includes lower Jurassic shelf limestone, marls, evaporite layers, and Streppenosa shale above the reservoirs.

Development Phases

The development of the Perla field is planned in three phases:

• Phase 1 (Early Production): Achieved a production plateau of about 450 million standard cubic feet per day (Mscfd), increased from the initially planned 300 Mscfd.
• Phase 2: Targeted a production plateau of 800 Mscfd from 2017.
• Phase 3: Planned to reach a production plateau of 1,200 Mscfd from 2020.

Infrastructure

The field development includes four light offshore platforms linked by a 30-inch pipeline to a Central Processing Facility (CPF) located onshore at Punto Fijo (Paraguaná Peninsula). The CPF has two treatment trains capable of handling 150 Mscfd and 300 Mscfd each. The project also involves the drilling of 21 producer wells.

Production

The field started production in July 2015. As of recent reports, the Perla field is currently producing around 580 million cubic feet of gas per day. The gas is mainly used by PDVSA for the domestic market, with a gas sales agreement in place until 2036.

Technological and Operational Highlights

The development of the field was completed in an industry-leading time of five years, thanks to the extensive use of pre-pack modules in the realization of the onshore gas treatment trains. This approach minimized construction works and optimized the time to market.

Significance

The Perla field is the largest offshore gas field discovered to date in Latin America and the first gas field to be brought to production offshore Venezuela. It is one of Repsol's greatest discoveries since 2015 and a significant project for Eni's operations in Venezuela.

Additional Context

Eni's operations in Venezuela also include the Junín-5 heavy oil block and a stake in the offshore Corocoro oil field. The Perla project has significantly contributed to Eni's net production in Venezuela, which was expected to exceed 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) by the end of 2015.