Production Starts in Promising SE Hungarian Gas Field

The first well at the hydrocarbon deposit discovered in the Sarkad region is put into operation this Monday, while drilling of the second well at the Nyékpuszta field will start in the coming days, the Ministry of Energy (EM) has informed MTI.

The government is strengthening Hungary's energy sovereignty and security of supply by meeting as much of its domestic needs as possible from domestic sources, the ministry said in a statement.

The exploration, field development and production of the unconventional Nyékpuszta natural gas field in Békés county (SE Hungary) will be carried out in a joint venture structure with the participation of the MVM Group. The drilling of the first well was completed last spring. The Corvinus project was declared a priority investment in summer 2022. Based on production tests, the extraction of the significant hydrocarbon resources available in the discovered field is now starting. The drilling of the second well will start in the coming days, it was announced.

Although gas consumption fell by 17% last year as a result of the energy crisis, Hungary's exposure to the crisis is still high. The Energy Ministry plans to increase domestic gas production from 1.5 billion cubic meters to 2 billion cubic meters a year, the statement said.

The role of natural gas in district heating could be increasingly taken over by geothermal energy, but it will be needed as a balancing capacity in the increased use of weather-dependent renewables, the ministry said.

According to the ministry, the government would meet a steadily growing share of domestic demand from domestically available sources to ensure security of supply and protect the feed-in tariffs. The extraction that has just started will thus serve the strategic objectives usefully.