--> Abstract: Petroleum Statistics in France, by H. De Saint Germain and C. Lamiraux; #90956 (1995).

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Abstract: Petroleum Statistics in France

Hugues De Saint Germain, Charles Lamiraux

Thirty three oil companies, including Elf, Exxon, Agip, Conoco as well as Coparex, Enron, Hadson, Midland, Hunt, Canyon and Union Texas are present in oil and gas exploration and production in France.

The production of oil and gas in France amounts to some 60,000 bopd of oil and 350 MMcfpd of marketed natural gas each year, which still accounts for 3.5% and 10% for French domestic needs, respectively.

To date, 166 fields have been discovered, representing a total reserve of 3 billion bbl of crude oil and 13 trillion cf of raw gas. These fields are concentrated in two major onshore sedimentary basins of Mesozoic age, which are the Aquitaine basin and the Paris basin.

The Aquitaine basin should be subdivided into two distinct domains:

- The Parentis basin where the largest field Parentis was discovered in 1954 with still production of about 3700 bopd of oil and where Les Arbousiers field, discovered at the end of 1991, is currently producing about 10,000 bopd of oil.

- The northern Pyrenees and their foreland, where the Lacq field, discovered in 1951, has produced about 7.7 tcf of gas since 1957, and is still producing 138 MMcfpd.

In the Paris basin, the two large oil fields are Villeperdue discovered in 1982 by Triton and Total, and Chaunoy, discovered in 1983 by Essorep, which are still producing about 10,000 and 15,000 bopd, respectively. The last significantly sized discovery occurred in 1990 with Itteville by Elf Aquitaine which is currently producing 4,200 bopd.

The poster shows statistical data related to the past 20 years of oil and gas exploration and production in France.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90956©1995 AAPG International Convention and Exposition Meeting, Nice, France