ENI Outlines Australia Campaign

Italian energy giant ENI has flagged a 24-well campaign as part of a $373 million capital expenditure program in the Australia-Indonesia region over the coming year with the aim of fast-tracking the development of new discoveries through existing production assets, The West Australian said in a report Tuesday.

Although the company’s upstream focus is dominated by interests in Africa, including the return to operations in Libya, ENI has been quietly adding to its portfolio off Australia, headlined by the $350 million purchase late last year of Santos' 32.5 per cent stake in the Evans Shoal field in the Timor Sea.

The company expects an appraisal well to be drilled at Evans Shoal, which is thought to have seven trillion cubic feet of gas in place, in the second half of this year. Royal Dutch Shell is the permit operator.

ENI is expected to drill an appraisal well of the Heron discovery, also in the Timor Sea, in the third quarter while it processes newly-acquired 3D seismic over the nearby Blackwood gas find.

In both cases ENI's Timor Sea partner is MEO Australia.