Po Valley – which has already scheduled development activity this year on three other gas fields in Italy’s northern provinces – said today that work would also start in the same region on the Pandino field.

Go-ahead for the Pandino project follows a review of the field’s estimated recoverable proven, probable and possible gas reserves which have been increased nearly 10 fold to 45.3 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas from a estimate of 5.3 bcf previously, said chief executive Michael Masterman.

The the Pandino development would include the drilling of appraisal wells as early as next year, Masterman said.

The Pandino field is located in the Cascina san Pietro licence, 23km east of Milan and is 100%-owned by Po Valley. The Company’s other Italian gas fields under development are Santa Maddalena, Sillaro and Vitalba (which is in the same licence area).

The Pandino reserves upgrade and the decision to move the project to development status have contributed to a 71% increase to 105.6 bcf in Po Valley’s total Proven and Probable (2P) gas reserves in Italy.

The main impact has been at the Proven reserve level, with total group 1P reserves rising 150% to 25.3 bcf, according to Masterman.

“Our success at defining new reserves at Pandino is a clear demonstration of the capacity of Po Valley to significantly expand its reserve base in this historically prolific hydrocarbon province,” he said.

“Pandino has been under intensive data collection and evaluation over the past 12 months as part of our strategy to build a strong gas business within Europe’s high paying and increasingly deregulated gas market.

“The Pandino field (under ENI management in the 1950s) has already produced 5.13 bcf of gas. Our reserves upgrade resulting from a detailed review of historic production tests and log data on seven of the former ENI wells."

Masterman said two drill targets had been selected and Po Valley would immediately prepare and submit Environmental Impact assessment reviews to gain approval to drill Pandino.”

Pandino has two main gas-bearing levels – a 58 metre thick sand interval in an anticline structure in the Miocene at around 1875 metres, and prospective pinch-outs in the Pliocene at around 1,200 metres.