Country Venezuela Block Cardon IV Discovery 1976 Partners Repsol, Eni, PDVSA | Location Gulf of Venezuela Offshore/onshore Offshore Start of production 2013 | |
Estimated gas in place 16,300×10^ cu ft (460×10^ m) Producing formations Lower Jurassic shelf limestone | ||
Perla gas field is a giant offshore gas field in the Gulf of Venezuela. It is located south of Gela field, about 50 kilometres (31 mi) offshore at the Cardon IV block in water depths about 60 metres (200 ft). It covers area about 33 square kilometres (13 sq mi).
The field was discovered in 1976. Exploration activities were carried out in 2009. The Pearl-1 well, drilled by the jack-up rig Ensco 68, encountered a 60 m (200 ft) hydrocarbon column with a production capacity of about 600,000 cubic metres per day (21,000,000 cu ft/d) of gas and 500 barrels per day (79 m3/d) of gas condensate. Perla-2 produced 1.4 million cubic metres per day (49×106 cu ft/d) of gas and 1,500 barrels per day (240 m3/d) of condensate, Perla-3produced 1.9 million cubic metres per day (67×106 cu ft/d) of gas and 1,350 barrels per day (215 m3/d) of condensate, and Perla-4 produced 17 million cubic feet per day (480×103 m3/d) of gas and 560 barrels per day (89 m3/d) of condensate. In total, it is expected to hold more than 16.3 trillion cubic feet (460 billion cubic metres) of natural gas.
At the phase I light offshore platforms will be installed to utilise the wells already drilled. A pipeline will be installed to a central processing facility located onshore. The phase I is expected to cost of US$1.4 billion.
The field will be developed by consortium of Repsol YPF (32.5%), Eni (32.5%), and PDVSA (35%). The front-end loading will be carried out by Foster Wheeler. The field is expected to come onstream by the first half of 2013. The development contract will be in force until 2036.