There we are, the exploration phase has finished:
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The production contract is signed with the country owning the rights below ground.
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The hydrocarbons discovered by the initial exploration well have been confirmed by the appraisal drilling.
- The oil and gas deposit is now better known.
- Many of the uncertainties, concerning the form of the deposit, the existence and the characteristics of the reservoirs and the lines of contact between hydrocarbons and water or between the hydrocarbons themselves, have been significantly reduced. All the knowledge gained encourages us to think that exploitation of the oil or gas will be a profitable operation. But, it is vital not to make a mistake! The exploration stage is expensive enough (several tens of millions of euros per well), but moving on to the development phase and subsequent extraction operations is even more ravenous for investment. We are often talking in terms of hundreds of millions of euros, sometimes over a billion!
Enormous thought goes into the best way of extracting the hydrocarbons, attempting to recover the maximum quantities of oil and gas in the safest conditions. These forecasts, studies and the eventual construction of the installations constitute the development stage of the field. Once everything is in place, extraction can start. The life of an oil field continues for many years.
Then comes the time when the decision is taken to terminate operations. Finally, the site must be restored to its natural state. |