In 2019, investors and stakeholders in the Nigeria oil and gas sector will be keeping an eagle eye on the relatively unknown Preowei field which is awaiting Final Investment Decision (FID) from French major Total.
The field which was discovered in 2005 will be developed as a tie back to the Egina FPSO, the largest deepwater floater that Total ever deployed. The Preowei field is expected to produce around 70,000boepd (barrel of Oil equivalent per day) at peak.
“Egina will significantly boost the Group’s production and cash flow from 2019 onwards, and benefit from our strong cost reduction efforts in Nigeria where we have reduced our operating costs by 40peercent over the last four years,” Arnaud Breuillac, president Exploration & Production said in a press statement.
“Furthermore, some upside potential nearby remains to be developed and we are studying in particular Preowei discovery tie-back to the Egina FPSO.”
The evaluation of the results of the Preowei-3 well, concluded in late November 2017, indicate an addition of approximately 80 to 100 Million barrels of oil (MMbo) to the full field contingent recoverable resources, bringing them to 140 to 200MMbo.
Preowei is the third producible oil accumulation in OML 130, which hosts the giants Akpo (in production since 2009) and much talked about Egina project.
The Preowei-3 well, drilled to a final depth of 3,235 meters, encountered approximately 50 metres net of high-quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoirs, in line with expectations. The well confirms previous results from the Preowei-1B and Preowei-2 wells, which encountered approximately 55 metres of oil-bearing sandstone reservoir which means that Preowei can be developed as a field, and deliver around 40-50,000barrels of oil a day (BOPD).
The French major began to talk up the possibility of producing Preowei in December 2017 when, after drilling Preowei-3, it reported an addition of approximately 80 to 100 Million barrels of oil (MMbo) to the full field contingent recoverable resources, bringing them to 140 to 200MMbo.
The Preowei-3 well, drilled to a final depth of 3,235 meters, encountered approximately 50 metres net of high-quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoirs, in line with expectations. The well confirmed previous results from the Preowei-1B and Preowei-2 wells, which encountered approximately 55 metres of oil-bearing sandstone reservoir.
Recall, Total started up production on December 29, 2018 from the Egina field, located in around 1,600 meters of water depths, 150 kilometers off the coast of Nigeria. At plateau, the Egina field will produce 200,000 barrels of oil per day, which represents about 10 per cent of Nigeria’s production.
Total E&P Nigeria Limited (“TEPNG”), an affiliate of TOTAL has operated in the upstream sector of the Nigerian hydrocarbon industry for more than 50 years and has added over 3 billion barrels of oil equivalent to Nigeria’s production to date.
Incorporated in Nigeria in 1962, TEPNG has maintained strong and steadfast partnerships with the Nigerian Government, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and several indigenous companies, in developing the country’s hydrocarbon industry.
TEPNG operates and holds a 40percent interest in the NNPC/TEPNG Joint Venture, producing oil and natural gas from several onshore and shallow water concessions. Another Total affiliate, Total Upstream Nigeria Limited (TUPNI), operates the Akpo field in OML 130 deepwater lease and is currently developing the Egina field.
In addition, TEPNG has non-operated interests in the SPDC-operated joint venture (10percent), the Bonga field (12.5percent) and the Usan field (20percent). Total also has a 15percent interest in Nigeria LNG, which currently operates 6 LNG liquefaction trains on Bonny Island.
DIPO OLADEHINDE
