Akpo field to produce over one million bpd

By Yemie Adeoye &  Daniel Alfred
DESPITE being a new development compared to the likes of Bonga and Agbami fields, the Akpo field has been rated as a highly prospective field with the cap

Oil Rig

acity to produce well over a million barrels of oil per day.

This is coming on the heels of a declaration by Afren Nigeria Plc that it has in conjunction with Oriental Energy Resources commenced the spudding of Ebok-5 well offshore South Eastern Nigeria.

Chambers Oyibo, Chairman Board of governors of the Center for Petroleum Information (CPI) made this notion during the 9th Luncheon talk of the CPI which held in Lagos recently.

Total upstream Nigerian Limited was invited to share its experiences‘and challenges towards production in the Akpo deepwater field.
Speaking on the topic   “Akpo deep water field: Challenges and Journey to Production” Managing Director of Total Upstream Mr Guy Maurice stated that inspite of all hurdles which came up as a result of the project size, the company was able to sail through and come out with the history story that is today the Akpo field.

Maurice who was represented at the occasion by Mr Henry Dalafon, the Executive Director Total Upstream Nigeria Limited stated that part of the challenges faced was that of human, technological, industrial, and engineering challenges among others. “The journey was quite a tedious one, but among all odds, we were able to sail through “ he said

He concluded by showing appreciation also in his closing speech did not fail to extend his heart felt gratitude to CPI, the oil and Gas think tank and publishers of  the petroleum digest and the Nigerian petroleum Resource (DPR), NAPIMS as well as other partners of Akpo such as PETROBRAS, SAPETRO, and CNOOC respectively for their support in the petroleum  industry.

Further more, Chief Chambers Oyibo, chairman board of Governors (CPI) opined “ Despite the fact that Akpo is a new deep water fields among others as Agbami, Bonga, and its likes and for this fact clear estimation of  barrels per year will be difficult to determine but in all we are able to produce about one million Barrels per day” he said.

In a related development Afren Nigeria and its partners oriental energy resources have  announced the spudding of the Ebok-5 well offshore south East in Nigeria.

Following the announcement it was stated that the duo had signed a rig contract with transocean for the Adriatic ix jack-up drilling rig. In order words, the first drilling phase has commenced with the sudden of two appraisal wells to prove up further upside potential while both appraisal targets exhibits amplitude conformance with the fault Block 1 and Fault Block 2 areas of the field therefore, giving rise to a total number of six wells to be drilled.

The commencement of the drilling which followed the recent announcement of  the extention of the partnership between Oriental and Afren also, includes the Okwok field, adjacent to Ebok which is significantly increasing the resource potential of the greater Ebok-Okwok coplex. “Afren in the mid 2010 plans to drill one committement well at Okwok and is engaged in studies to that effect so as to determine the optimal well location and field development concept, maximizing on the Ebok development synergies.

The chairman Oriental Energy Resources, Alhaji Mohammed Indimi, further opined that “they are delighted that the drilling operation have commenced at the Ebok field, representing an important milestone towards the successful delivery of one of the largest independent oil development to date. Haven recently welcomed our partner Afren to participate in the appraisal and developement  of the nearby Okwok field. We look foward to firstly establishing Ebok as a production hub and replicating this success at Okwok whilst continuing to pursue other suitable development opportunities in the area” he said.

Furthermore, Chairman Afren Nigeria, Egbert Imomoh also commented  “haven secured a drilling unit at competitive rates, we are pleases to be entering the drilling phase at Ebok, by establishing early production. We will Achieve a strong foothold in a prolific hydrocarbon producing region which will form the basis for further growth in the area. This will enable us to capitalize on synergies from the nearby Okwok field appraisal and development and continue to pursue other opportunities in the surrounding area within the framework of our collaboration agreement”.