Regain of interest for the black gold in Alsace

[freddau]

A dozen oil wells are still active in Alsace. Increased prices increase profitability and should allow their operator to fund new research programs.

In memory of engineer of the Drire (*), it had not happened for a very long time. For the first time in at least fifteen years, two companies are preparing to explore the Alsatian basement to try to find exploitable oil deposits. In January, Geopetrol SA and Millennium Geo-Venture, the two companies in question, were granted a research license for the Soufflenheim concession on 200 km².

Very profitable fields
"We will make seismic measurements to map the basement" and "try to find a reservoir," says Bertrand Launois, CEO of Geopetrol. If successful, the consortium will attempt a drill. "It's the only way to check if the rock contains oil and if it's profitable."
M. Launois has no illusions. "We usually have a chance of success on 10 or 12". At one million euros the exploration program and two million euros drilling, it represents a sacred budget. But "today, it's worth it," says the industrialist. At 130 dollars a barrel, "we even have the margin".
This investment, Geopetrol will partly finance it with the profits that it realizes in Alsace. This Parisian SME which employs 25 people in France and which generates a turnover of nearly 18 million euros, operates in fact almost all wells still active in Alsace. A dozen in total, spread over three concessions: Scheibenhard, Wintzenbach (at Schelmenberg) and Eschau.
"We have bought the fields of Alsace Elf 1994," says the CEO of Geopetrol. "At the time, the price of oil was 16 dollars a barrel. For Elf, who has very high structural costs, these "end-of-life" wells, which are on average 25 years old, "have become too expensive to exploit. For us, they were profitable.
They have become even more so. Bertrand Launois did the math; taking into account "our actual operating costs, we are losing money when the price per barrel is below $ 30". At current prices, "these fields are very profitable. They would have been even for Elf.
And this, despite their low productivity. In fact, the biggest supplies just 3 m³ of crude oil per day. In total, the Alsacian wells of Geopetrol (which also exploits fields in the Paris basin, in Champagne and in Aquitaine) roughly produce enough to fill a daily tanker truck of 30 m³.

Stop the curve
of decline
Last year, Geopetrol extracted very precisely 7 800 m³, 49 000 barrels, "a crude of rather good quality", sold at the Reichstett refinery. Alsatian oil, says Launois, currently accounts for 14% of the company's turnover.
The problem is that the reserves are not renewed. "We estimate them to 106 000 m³, which represents another fifteen years of production," says the entrepreneur, recognizing that in this area, it is not possible to be certain.
All the work of the Alsatian Geopetrol team, made up of a farm manager and two technicians, consists in "optimizing production, pumping up without sinking wells". In summary, to "soften the curve of decline" that bends despite everything from year to year.
In these conditions, it is essential for society to find new deposits. To safeguard its activity, the employment of its employees and a profession rooted in the industrial history of the region.

www.dna.fr

[freddau]

this is a good illustration of what is happening on a global scale

[Other]

Hello

We can see until or? they are ready to invest to pump the last drops of petrol, (first after we flies) This proves that the alternative solutions are far in their preoccupations ..
I would be curious about the amount invested in the search for oil replacement technology versus the montans invested in the search for a new well or technology to go and search for inaccessible aquifers.

Andre

[Christophe]

Long live expensive oil as it sucks more ...