PA Resources Submits Updated Development Plan for Zarat Oil, Gas Field in Tunisia

PA Resources has submitted an updated development plan for Zarat oil and gas field to Tunisian authorities.

The Zarat field is a large, shallow-water, gas-condensate and oil field containing estimated recoverable reserves of 147 mmboe. It is Tunisia’s largest undeveloped field and production from Zarat field will be critical in alleviating a forecast future gas supply deficit in Tunisia, the company said.

The parties in the field are PA Resources and the state oil company, L’Entreprise Tunisienne d’Activités Pétrolières (ETAP).

ETAP has the option to back-in to the southern tract for up to a 55 percent working interest, in which scenario PA Resources would retain 45 percent, and a decision on this back-in option follows shortly after acceptance of the development plan. The northern tract is held by Joint Oil, which was formed as a joint entity between ETAP (Tunisia) and the National Oil Company (Libya).

The proposed development is in two phases, with Phase 1 comprising four production wells and production facilities to process and export 20,000 bbls/d of oil and 100 mmscfg/d of raw gas.  Phase 2 comprises a further four development wells, with expanded facilities to increase capacity to 40,000 bbls/d and 200 mmscf/d of raw gas.

The Zarat facilities also have the potential to act as a hub to facilitate development of nearby stranded oil and gas fields in the eastern Gulf of Gabes, such as PA Resources’ Elyssa gas field.

Following acceptance of the plan by the Tunisian authorities, the project will enter a front-end engineering design phase with project sanction during 2017, the company stated.