Perenco takes half of Serept, Ashtart off Tunisia

OMV and Perenco have closed a deal that makes Perenco part owner of independent oil and gas company Serept, as well as the Ashtart oil field offshore Tunisia.

Ashtart. Image from OMV.

The agreement puts Perenco in a partnership with the Tunisian national oil company, ETAP, who owns the remaining 50% stake in Serept and Ashtart.

OMV’s divestment of Ashtart fits with its strategy to optimize its portfolio, the company said. The Austrian company saw a net production of 3000 boe/d from the field in 2016.

Perenco now holds 50% stake in the Serept-operated Ashtart field in the Gulf of Gabes, marking the company’s first offshore asset in Tunisia.

"Serept is thus embarking on a new turning point in its already rich history, with a new and promising partnership that will give it strengths to meet the challenges of the present and the near future,” says Lotfi Kahouach, Serept CEO. “I would like to confirm that we are all committed, Serept and Partners, to ensure that the results of our Serept company are commensurate with the commitment and ambitions of its staff and partners ETAP and Perenco.”

Production from Ashtart was discovered in 1971, been in operation since 1974, and peaked in 1979 at 47,100 b/d and has since been in decline, according to Wood Mackenzie.

The field has been undergoing a revamp project that was initiated in 2008, in which Ashtart has maintained production levels at above 5000 b/d.

“Production has been in decline for many years but the revamp project and further development drilling began in 2009 that helped stabilize output,” says WoodMac.

Plans for the field include additional development drilling to sidetrack and deepen existing wells. The revamp project aims to maintain production until 2025.

Ashtart consists of a single reservoir with a thickness is about 70m.

According to Serept, the reservoir is deeply faulted and the production wells do not communicate. The hydrocarbons are under-saturated with pressures varying between 200 bar (in the eastern portion of the reservoir) and 250 bar (in the western part of the reservoir), and temperatures are 140° C. Most wells at the field are at some 3000m water depth.