The Edinburgh-based oil and gas independent has been awarded a Certificate of Commerciality for Kavarna, which will allow it to proceed with the work required to start production. The company hopes to start producing gas by
July 1 next year.
The field is estimated to contain reserves of 24 billion cubic feet of gas. It will be tied back to the platform used to produce gas from the Galata field. Melrose is still in talks with the Bulgarian authorities about turning this field into a storage facility.
The company also hopes to win clearance to develop the 57Bcf Kaliakra find close to Galata in time to start production next October.
Melrose said it had received approval from the Romanian authorities to conduct petroleum operations in the country last month. This will help the company in its efforts to win official approval to complete the farm-in transaction to buy stakes in two licences that it has agreed with Sterling Resources.
David Thomas, chief executive of Melrose, said: “The receipt of the Certificate of Commerciality for the Kavarna field from the new Bulgarian government administration is an important milestone. We now look forward to accelerating the development of various projects in Bulgaria and Romania which will contribute significantly to the regional domestic gas supply.”
Elsewhere, Melrose said it had started production from the South Khilala field in Egypt at 114 million cubic feet daily and completed some work to boost production from West Dikirnis.
Analysts at brokerage Numis Securities said the progress on the two fields left Melrose well placed to meet 2009 production targets.
The company will start work on a programme to drill three prospects in the Nile Delta shortly.
Melrose is acquiring seismic data on the Mesaha block, where it expects to drill first well late next year.
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