United Oil & Gas and PVE win approval to develop Selva Gas Field

United Oil & Gas and Po Valley Energy (PVE) have secured preliminary approval from the Italian Government for their production concession application to develop the onshore Selva Gas Field.

Selva is located less than one kilometre from the Italian National Gas Grid. It is operated by PVE and includes the Podere Maiar-1d appraisal/redevelopment well.

The field sits within the Podere Gallina Exploration Permit, which is located in Italy’s Po Valley region where more than 5,000 wells have been drilled.

United Oil & Gas CEO Brian Larkin said: “The preliminary award of the Selva production licence is a key regulatory milestone in advancing Selva towards production.

“As well as progressing with the development, we are also excited by the upcoming 3D seismic acquisition in the licence, which will focus on proving up the huge potential of the wider licence area.”

The development plan for Selva, in which United holds a 20% interest, will involve the installation of a fully automated gas plant at the existing Selva/Podere Maiar-1d well site.

A 1km-long pipeline will also be laid to connect to the nearby Italian National Grid connection.

The development aims to produce at a rate of up to 150,000m² a day gross from the C1 and C2 reservoirs in the Medium-Upper Pliocene sands of the Porto Garibaldi Formation.

Additional wells are subject to successful 3D seismic results from the upcoming programme and will be drilled to target the additional prospectivity in the licence, including the Selva East, Selva South Flank, and Riccardina structures.

Larkin added that additional wells will be drilled to significantly increase the overall resource base within the Selva concession.