Home-grown natural gas produced amongst La Rioja’s vineyards

Spain generates renewable energy but no hydrocarbons, apart from the natural gas that Heyco Energy Iberia extracts in Sotes (La Rioja).

The gas was discovered in 2010 and since the Viura project was launched in 2017, Heyco estimates that one well has extracted 500 million cubic metres of the 3 billion that the field contains.

The company acquired Union Fenosa’s 58.8 per cent stake in 2022 and recently bought the publicly owned Basque Hydrocarbons Society’s 37.7 per cent holding.

The company expects to increase production by 800 per cent over the next two years, extracting a daily 800,000 cubic metres of gas, generating tax revenues of €25.7 million.

The owners of vineyards and farms within a 1.5 kilometres radius will receive 1 per cent of the production value, Heyco said, while the regional government and neighbouring municipalities are entitled to 4 per cent of the Gas, Oil and Condensate tax.

Talking to the El Economista newspaper, Jorge Navarro vice-president of the Spanish Association of Petroleum Geologists and Geophysicists (AGGEP) told the El Economista newpaper that work at the Viura wells was the only drilling activity in Spain at present.

“And probably the last, although the project is possibly one of the most relevant that has been carried out on Spanish soil in recent years,” he added.

Meanwhile, Heyco pointed out that it currently provides direct and indirect jobs for 80  people and will be increasing this by another 50.

The company also pointed out that developing the Sotes field would make it possible to reduce of gas imports.

“Viura natural gas is obtained with 85 per cent less carbon footprint than gas brought from the United States and Russia,” Heyco said.