Repsol has started up the first producing well at the Perla Field, the largest gas discovery in the company's history and the largest offshore gas field in Latin America, Repsol said in a news release.

The field holds 17 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas in place, Repsol said. Perla is located in the Cardón IV Block, 50 km offshore in shallow waters in the Gulf of Venezuela. Repsol said it expects to start producing 150 million cubic feet of gas a day (MMcf/d), rising to 450 MMcf/d by the end of 2015. This gas will be used for local consumption in Venezuela.

In the two following phases, output will rise to 1.2 Bcf/d in 2020, a volume that would be maintained until the end of the contract in 2036, according to Repsol’s news release.

Repsol and Eni discovered the Cardón IV block in 2009, where the consortium has drilled seven of the 26 wells planned as part of the development plan. The wells will feed four producing platforms that use underwater connections to transport the gas onshore for processing, the release said. The Cardón IV license is held by the Cardón IV S.A. joint venture between Repsol (50%) and Eni (50%).