Gas Field Found in Hungary

08.05.2008 (14:00) | Kommersant

Gazprom will have new competition in Europe.

Exxon Mobil, MOL and Falcon Oil & Gas have announced plans to produce about 10 billion cu. M. of natural gas at a new Hungarian gas field and export the fuel to Austria and Serbia. That fuel will be an alternative to Russian exports, although the Hungarian filed is not large enough to affect Gazprom’s position in Europe seriously. Falcon Oil & Gas chairman and CEO Mark Bruner told the Bloomberg agency that the companies have already begun producing gas from the Mako Trough deposit. Production will reach an industrial level in 2012.

The Mako Trough field in southeast Hungary is estimate to hold 340-510 billion cu. M. of gas. More than 30 percent of those reserves can be produced at current market prices. MOL and Exxon own 40.4 percent each of the Mako Trough field and Falcon owns the remaining 19.2 percent. Hungary consumes 13 billion cu. m. of gas per year, 78 percent of which is imported. In 2007, Gazprom sold 7.5 billion cu. m. of gas to Hungary. The country also buys gas from Gaz de France and E.On.

The gas at Mako Trough is difficult to access and several years will be required before its export potential will be clear. About 2000 wells will have to be drilled at a cost of about $24 billion. Denmark and several other European countries have gas fields.

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