MOL Discovers a New Oil Deposit in Central Hungary

Crude oil has been found near Tura (central Hungary), providing around 1,000 barrels per day. For the Hungarian oil company MOL, this means 500 barrels per day, which is about 1% of the group’s average daily oil production in 2023. The drilling for the well began last summer and the oil deposit was discovered at a depth of 2,100 meters, Index reports.

According to an extraordinary announcement on the Budapest Stock Exchange website, MOL has been involved in the exploration of a new oil deposit in Hungary. “MOL, together with O&GD Central Kft. of Hungary (‘OGD’), has successfully drilled a well in central Hungary, near the settlement of Tura, after MOL acquired a 49% interest in three exploration concessions previously won by OGD in the summer of 2023,” the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

The new deposit is currently producing around 1,000 barrels of oil per day, which OGD and MOL shares pro rata to their respective 51%-49% ownership stake. For MOL, this represents about 500 barrels per day, which is circa 1% of the MOL Group’s average daily oil production in 2023,”

the statement writes.

According to an Economx article, the drilling of the well, called Tura-D-3, began last summer and the oil deposit was discovered at a depth of 2,100 meters. The so-called Paleogene basin, a geological unit not far from Budapest, currently has four exploration concessions, of which MOL holds the Dány area.

As Economx reports, MOL has achieved significant success here in 2022:

the Vecsés-2 well in the discovered oil field has now become one of MOL’s highest-yielding oil wells in Hungary,

with a production of 1,400 barrels per day, while the Tóalmás-Észak oil field, successfully producing since 2016, is also located nearby.

“I am very proud of MOL Hungary’s exploration-production team, which is working tirelessly to ensure that the country has access to as much hydrocarbons as possible from domestic sources. It is particularly important for us to seize opportunities, increase domestic production volumes, and reduce Hungary’s dependence on imports. The Tura find is the result of an effective professional cooperation: we are pleased that our joint exploration with O&GD has led to such a rapid success,” said György Bacsa, Managing Director of MOL Hungary.

MOL plans to invest hundreds of billions of forints in oil and gas production in Hungary over the next five years. Almost 60-65 percent of this will be for natural gas, 20-25 percent for oil, and the rest for the safe maintenance and replacement of infrastructure.

Via Index, Economx; Featured image: Facebook/MOL