Portugal’s Galp and Italy’s Eni are set to start preparations for an offshore well drilling in Portugal after Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) has waived a need for additional environmental impact studies for Alentejo offshore test well.
In a joint statement last week Eni and Galp said that APA confirmed that the environmental studies and risk assessments already carried out on the Santola-1X project “are exhaustive and has not identified significant negative environmental impacts.”
The consortium Eni-Galp said it would start the work on the conditions prescribed by APA and on the planning activities necessary to drill the well safely.
“The well will be drilled utilizing state-of-the-art technology and operational practices to ensure maximum safety conditions. The well target is to confirm whether hydrocarbons may be present in this sector of the Portuguese offshore,” the two oil companies said.
The well is located at a distance of 46 kilometers from the nearest point of the Portuguese coast, at a location not visible from the coastline, and at a water depth of roughly 1000 meters.
While the two companies did not say which rig would be used for the operations, Galp has shared a photo of the Saipem 12000 drillship along with the Alentejo announcement.
The Saipem 12000 was recently used by Eni in Morocco, where Eni failed to find hydrocarbons in its Rabat well.
According to Marine Traffic, the drillship is currently anchored in Las Palmas, Spain.
Offshore Energy Today has reached out to Galp, seeking more info on the expected spud date, and also, on which rig will be used for the operation. We will update the article if we get a response.
Offshore Energy Today Staff