Frontera Announces Work Upgrade for Gas Complex in E. Georgia
TBILISI - Frontera Resources Corporation, a US-based independent oil and gas company, announced an operations update for its work at the South Kakheti Gas Complex situated in eastern Georgia.
According Frontera’s announcement the start of the new program is currently set for 2017.
After 18 months of gas production operations in eastern Georgia that domestically produced non-associated gas has been continuously marketed to Georgia’s national consumption market. Together with the South Kakheti Gas Complex, the work opened a new chapter in Georgia’s move towards energy independence as well as providing gas to markets beyond its borders.
In October 2015, Frontera revealed that extensive geologic and geophysical studies within and between the Mtsare Khevi Gas Complex and the Taribani Field Complex areas had extensive integrated gas resource potential far larger than previously identified.
According to company representatives, operations and advanced technical studies have continued throughout the first quarter of the year in the western and central areas of the complex. These sites have significant natural gas resources in targeted reservoirs situated between 300 meters and 5,000 meters below the surface.
Frontera plans to undertake a testing program designed to evaluate an extensive gas-bearing interval of approximately 2,000 meters in gross thickness where an internal reservoir engineering models estimates the production capability in the range of 10 million – 20 million cubic meters of gas per day.
Steve Nicandros, Chairman and CEO of the company, emphasized that the technical work at the South Kakheti Gas Complex aims to reveal a new gas province within the broader regional fairway that already serves as the basis for the Southern Corridor’s extensive gas infrastructure network to Turkey and the rest of Europe.
“Strategically situated along this important gas export route, Frontera’s ongoing operations have the potential to not only assure Georgia its own domestic energy independence, but also as an important player in Europe’s future energy security,” Nicandros said.
In October, in an exclusive interview with Georgia Today, Ariel Cohen, Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council and Director of the Center for Energy, Natural Resources and Geopolitics at the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security emphasized that if the South Kakheti Gas Complex becomes as success it will become a real game-changer in the region and transform Georgia from an energy importer to an exporter. This would fundamentally change the economics of the country.
“Azerbaijan was a real friend, it supplied gas to Georgia at a low price and now Georgia has the potential to develop its own resources and it may have an additional source of gas. Meanwhile, Russia’s exports are down by approximately 20 per cent and it may slip further as Moscow is under sanctions from the West,” he told Georgia Today.
The Shah Deniz field is currently the key reserve for the Southern Gas Corridor project, an initiative by the European Commission for gas supplies from the Caspian and Middle Eastern regions.
The Southern Gas Corridor is a priority project for the EU. It is designed to transport the Caspian region's gas to Europe through Georgia and Turkey.
On Monday, Azerbaijani Energy Minister Natig Aliyev announced at the SOCAR International Practical Conference in Baku, that nearly 70 per cent of the work on the "Shah Deniz-2" project has been finished in Azerbaijan and Georgia as part of the Southern Gas Corridor.
The produced gas is part of the second stage of the Shah Deniz’ field development. It will be exported to Turkey and Europe by expanding the South Caucasus Pipeline, the construction of the Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline.
The initial capacity of TANAP pipeline is expected to reach 16 billion cubic meters of gas per year. Around six billion cubic meters of this gas will be delivered to Turkey and the remaining volume will be supplied to Europe.
By Tamar Svanidze
Edited by Nicholas Waller