Hungarian oil and gas company MOL announced a significant discovery of oil on the outskirts of the country’s capital Budapest.
The statement from the company said that it found oil at the depth of 2,100 meters near Vecses during exploratory drillings which started in July this year. Production at the new well is starting at 600 barrels per day, but is expected to rise to 700 -1,000 later. The discovery could boost MOL’s domestic hydrocarbon production by some 10 % and total crude oil production in Hungary by 5 %.
The well, MOL’s third-biggest in Hungary, should be capable of offsetting the decline in production at the company’s field in Algyo (157 kilometers southeast of Budapest). The production at the well started on 11 November and is being shipped directly to MOL’s Danube refinery.
MOL CEO Zsolt Hernadi said that every single drop of oil extracted in Hungary contributes to reducing the country’s energy dependence, adding that MOL is planning further drillings in the Vecses field.
MOL produced 3.5 million barrels of crude oil in Hungary last year, about half of the total production in the country. It also produced 1.4 billion cubic meters of gas, around 90 % of total domestic production. Local production accounts for around one-third of MOL’s upstream portfolio.
MOL is planning to invest almost 500 million euros in the upstream segment in Hungary in the next five years. Between 60 and 65 % of the sum will go toward natural gas and 20-25 % toward crude oil production.
