Even three boreholes would already be there. Oil giant Mobil dug it deep in the early 1980s, but then backfilled it soon after oil and gas prices plummeted. Promoting fossil fuels in Bavaria seemed to be a thing of the past for a long time and in many respects. But in view of the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis, the calculations are completely new. And so the Berlin company Genexco now wants to resume the 40-year-old mobile project in the municipality of Reichling in the Upper Bavarian district of Landsberg and produce natural gas there. The Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs has now granted him the exploration permit.
This license does not yet entitle you to drill again or even to produce, which requires further permits. But it secures the company’s rights to the development area. Genexco estimates that there are 300 to 400 million cubic meters of natural gas at a depth of around three kilometers. Despite the large numbers, this amount is negligible compared to annual consumption in Bavaria. Nevertheless, it could still be economically worthwhile.
In Reichling, the geologist and Genexco founder Eckhard Oehms wants to rely on the preparatory work of Mobiler, who have already carried out seismic measurements and the three boreholes and have encountered gas with two of them. Some of the holes could therefore probably be reused – one possibly for generating energy from geothermal energy, the other two only after the gas deposits have been exploited in about ten years.
The search for domestic natural gas is supported, even if the remaining deposits in the foothills of the Alps are relatively limited, according to Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger (FW). For him, natural gas is “the key technology to bridge the transition from coal and nuclear to renewables.” In the long term, green hydrogen will replace natural gas. There used to be around 60 natural gas fields in southern Upper Bavaria, but these have long since been largely exploited. Smaller drilling projects in recent years have often failed due to resistance from local residents. In Holzkirchen in the district of Miesbach, the municipal council will soon deal with a drilling project.