Po Valley makes gas find in Italy’s Selva field

Po Valley Energy Ltd., Perth, has made what it is calling a “significant” natural gas discovery in its 63%-owned Selva field in the Podere Gallina permit area of northern Italy. It is the company’s sixth success in identifying new gas in Italy’s existing gas fields in the Po Valley.

The Podere Maiar-1 well encountered two gas reservoirs in the Pliocene that returned strong gas flows, Po Valley said. The company was targeting an undrained area named Selva Stratigraphic, up-dip of the existing historic wells.

Peak flow rate during the test program was recorded at 1.418 million cu m/day in the C2 reservoir and 129,658 cu m/day through a 3/8-in. choke from the C1 reservoir. There was also fast pressure recovery.

Po Valley said the strong flow rates combined with the high methane content (99.1%) and close-proximity to the Italian national gas grid make the well a commercial discovery.

The company will now submit a production application to the Italian government by midyear and analyze the log and test results in the interim to develop reserve and resource estimates.

The company will also turn its attention to the Selva East exploration target 7 km away that has been delineated on the pinch out edge to the east of the main field.

Selva gas field, originally discovered and produced by Eni SPA, produced 83 bcf of gas from 15 wells over 35 years.

Po Valley has a majority stake in many permits in gas fields throughout northern Italy. It is producing, via its subsidiary Saffron Energy, from the Sillaro and Bezzecca fields and during third-quarter 2017 the company produced a total of 87.6 MMcf of gas—a 41% increase on the previous quarter—generating $750,000 (Aus.) in revenue.