RAG and Bayerngas Prove Commercial Reserves in Bavaria
Austrian Rohöl-Aufsuchungs Aktiengesellschaft (RAG) and Bayerngas GmbH have recorded their first success in the exploration of natural gas in Bavaria.
The partners have discovered gas reserves that are considered economically feasible to produce in the Assing R1 well. Assing is located northeast of lake Chiemsee, in the Bavarian Salzach-Inn region.
"The first production volumes of Bayerngas Norge AS from the Norwegian North Sea flow to the UK market. It goes without saying that producing gas from Bavarian reservoirs for Bavarian customers is something special to Bayerngas. Assing would be the first gas production project in Bavaria since 1996. This demonstrates the excellent expertise of our partner RAG", says Marc Hall, Managing Director of Bayerngas GmbH.
It is planned to produce and market around 13 million cubic metres of gas from 2012, representing the annual consumption of approximately 9000 households. The exploration well is used as production well. The gas could be transported in a connecting pipeline leading to the grid of Energienetze Bayern GmbH that is located at a distance of 500 metres only. "Low connection costs and re-usable modular surface facilities for control and gas compression make the project at Assing commercially feasible", says Kurt Sonnleitner, RAG's Chief Technical Officer and in charge of the company's business area Exploration & Production.
In recent years RAG has developed a wide range of drilling projects under which promising new wells are to be drilled together with Bayerngas in 2011 and the coming years. "Bayerngas and RAG have a highly professional partnership pursuing similar goals. This is why I am very pleased to see that our common efforts in Bavaria will be strengthened. Going forward, our joint activities will be extended to include the Chiemgau concession area, in which Bayerngas will hold a share of 30 per cent from 2011 on, like in the Salzach-Inn concession", explains Kurt Sonnleitner.
Source: RAG