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 AUSTRIA
Southern Europe
The Vienna Basin in Austria contains over 50, mostly very
old, producing oil and gas fields. Of greatest significance is the
Matzen Field, discovered in 1949 by the Russians during the occupation
of Austria.
 It
is located about 35kms north east of Vienna with original recoverable
reserves estimated at 538 mm Bbls of oil and 40 Bcm of gas. The
discovery well drilled several oil-bearing zones of which the thickest –
the Matzen Sand - lies at a depth of approximately 1600 m.
Production of oil began in 1950 from this zone after 425
wells had been rapidly drilled at a regular 250 m spacing. By 2000
approximately 500 mm Bbls of oil (well over half Austria’s total output)
had been produced from around 600 producing wells.
 EOR in the field is concentrated on the productive
shallower horizons. The production history of Matzen is a model for
thousands of oil fields in the world. Production increased rapidly
through the first 5 years of field life as the Russians tried to produce
as much as possible with little concern for field management.
It then began a rapid decline over the next five years, a
decline that was reversed through careful in-fill drilling and field
management during the 1960s. From 1970 a further long and persistent
decline set in. By the mid 1980s total annual production had levelled
off but individual well rates continued to drop as water production
increased.
The EOR attempts by OMV (the Austrian State company which
operated the field after the Russians withdrew in 1955) over this period
included 175 new producing wells and 800 injection and gas storage
wells. A new rejuvenation project was then initiated by OMV in 1993
which has reduced decline.
In early 2003 OMV, drilling in the Weinviertel region of
Lower Austria 35 kms northeast of Vienna, discovered a field (Erdpress)
with oil reserves of around 3.5 mm Bbls (plus 0.2 Bcm of gas). This was
the largest discovery in Austria in 25 years.
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