Eni SPA has started production from two natural gas fields related to the Berkine South contract in eastern Algeria, just 6 months after the contract was awarded, through a fast-track accelerated development.

Berkine South, the first contract to be signed under new Algerian Hydrocarbon Law 19-13, is producing at 1 million standard cubic meters per day of gas (MSm3/d) and about 4,000 barrels per day (b/d) associated liquids. Capacity is expected to increase to around 2 MMscmd by end of this year 2022, completing full capacity of Menzel Ledjmet East field’s 11-MMscmd gas treatment plant.

Eni in a statement stated that the new volumes, which are added to the Berkine North contract and other operated regional activities, will help satisfy the demands of the European market.

Eni has been present in Algeria since 1981 and today it’s the main international energy company operating in the country. In September 2022, the company announced that it had reached an agreement on the acquisition of BP’s operations in Algeria, including the gas-producing “In Amenas” and “In Salah”, the most important gas production fields operated by international companies in the country. Following this acquisition and the development programs in Berkine basin, Eni’s production in Algeria is expected to exceed 120,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) in 2023.

Earlier this year, Eni signed a production sharing contract (PSC) with state oil company Sonatrach, Occidental Petroleum Corp., and TotalEnergies SE for Blocks 404 and 208 in Berkine basin. Berkine South is operated by Eni and Sonatrach.

Gas Production in Merakes

In a similar project, Eni disclosed that it has started gas production from Merakes Project deep offshore Indonesia.

The Project is a deep-water gas field development at offshore Kutei Basin, with approximately 1,500 meters water depth. The five deep-water subsea wells will guarantee a production capacity of 450 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD), equivalent to 85,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (BOED). The field has been connected to the Jangkrik Floating Production Unit (FPU), operated by Eni, at a distance of 45 km from Merakes field, taking advantage of the synergy and optimizing its production capacity up to 750 MMSCFD together with the gas flowing from the Jangkrik gas field.

The gas produced from Merakes is exported through subsea pipelines to the Jangkrik FPU. After being processed, the gas is exported to the Onshore Receiving Facility (ORF) in Senipah via the existing Jangkrik export pipelines.

Merakes gas will be partially sold to the domestic market and will also contribute to the extension of the life of the Bontang LNG facility, one of the most reliable LNG processing plants in the world, that supplies LNG to both the domestic and export markets.

Eni’s CEO Claudio Descalzi commented saying, “We are really proud of the start-up of Merakes, a project which is synergetic with existing operated facilities and is the result of the fruitful collaboration with our partners and with the Indonesian authorities. Merakes is one of Eni key projects in 2021. It will support the growth of gas production, in line with Eni strategic goals.”

Eni is the operator of East Sepinggan block with a 65% share ownership through its affiliate, Eni East Sepinggan Ltd.; the other partners are Neptune Energy East Sepinggan B.V. with 20% shareand PT Pertamina Hulu Energi with the remaining 15% share. On 11 December 2018, the production sharing contract scheme for the East Sepinggan block was changed into Gross Split PSC to support the efficiency of oil and gas investment in Indonesia.