Selva Malvezzi Gas Field Redevelopment, Italy

The Selva Malvezzi onshore gas field is located within the Podere Maiar exploration licence in Northern Italy. Credit: Po Valley Energy.

Selva Malvezzi had an average daily production rate of 80,000scm as of April 2024. Credit: Po Valley Energy.

TESI, an Italian engineering firm, was responsible for the installation of the gas plant and pipeline. Credit: Po Valley Energy.

The first production started from the Podere Maiar-1 well in July 2023. Credit: Po Valley Energy.

The Selva Malvezzi is an onshore gas field situated within the Podere Maiar exploration licence in Northern Italy.

The field is being redeveloped by Po Valley Energy, the operator, which holds a 63% stake in the project while Prospex owns the remaining 37% through two of its wholly owned subsidiaries, PXOG Marshall (17%) and UOG Italia (20%).

The Selva Malvezzi gas field was originally discovered by ENI, an integrated oil and gas company. The field produced 83 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas during its initial operational phase from 1960 to 1984.

Po Valley was awarded the Selva Malvezzi preliminary gas production concession in 2019 and received the final environmental impact assessment (EIA) decree in March 2021.

The Emilia Romagna Regional Council approved the INTESA (local government production agreement) for the field in June 2022.

Selva Malvezzi gas field location

The Selva (Podere Maiar) gas field lies in the eastern part of the Po Plain, within the provinces of Ferrara and Bologna in the Emilia Romagna region. The exploration permit covers an area of 506km² while the Selva Malvezzi production concession spans 80.68km² within the permit.

The Selva Malvezzi production concession is located in the Podere Maiar exploration licence, in Northern Italy.

Discovery and appraisal of Podere Maiar-1d

The Podere Maiar-1d well was drilled in the fourth quarter of 2017. It encountered two gas-bearing reservoir columns, C1 and C2, in the Mid-Upper Pliocene sands of the Porto Garibaldi Formation.

Production testing of the columns was completed in January 2018, achieving peak flow rates of 5.2 million metric standard cubic feet per day (mmscf/d) and 4.6mmscf/d for C1 and C2, respectively.

Following the successful drilling of the Podere Maiar-1 well in late 2017, Po Valley has identified two further prospects on the northern and southern crests of the old Selva gas field, with exploration planned for the second half of 2024.

Reserves of Selva gas field

The Selva gas field is estimated to hold 8.4bcf in 2P reserves as of July 2022.

Selva Malvezzi gas field development details

The Italian Government approved the production concession for the Selva Malvezzi gas field in July 2022. Construction of an automated plant and a tie-in point to Italian infrastructure and integrated services provider SNAM’s pipeline was completed in May 2023.

Engineering work commenced in November 2022 to connect the suspended well (C1) at Selva to SNAM’s grid tie-in point.

Additionally, Po Valley confirmed the start of construction at the Selva well site in November 2022. It included the installation of a 4in-diameter pipeline spanning 1km to connect the Podere Maiar-1 well to the National Gas Grid network operated by SNAM.

The Selva Malvezzi field is currently producing from one well, Podere Maiar-1. Gas production started in July 2023 at a rate of 72,000 standard cubic metres per day (scm/d).

The production rate was progressively increased during the early stages of production, with the average daily production as of April 2024 being approximately 80,000scm/d.

The current production well produces from the lower horizon (C2) while the upper horizon (C1) remains shut via a sliding sleeve, and will be activated in future. Both horizons were tested at the time of discovery and are capable of delivering in excess of 100,000scm/d each.

Offtake agreement

Po Valley has secured an offtake agreement with BP Gas Marketing for the supply of gas from its Podere Maiar-1 facility in Italy. An 18-month gas export agreement was announced in February 2023. The agreement stipulates that all gas from PM-1 will be sold to BP Gas marketing.

Po Valley Energy (PVE) will supply more than 37 million standard cubic metres of gas, under the terms of the agreement.

Contractors involved

Po Valley has contracted Italian engineering company TESI, for the installation of the gas plant and pipeline.

CGG Services, a UK-based geological and petroleum reservoir consultancy, provided the Competent Persons Report for the Selva gas field in July 2022.