Nigerian unit of French oil giant, Total E & P, said it expects two of its major deepwater oil and gas projects to come on stream within the next four years.

Specifically, the company estimates that its second major deepwater project, Usan, will come on stream by 2012, with a production capacity of 180,000 barrels of oil equivalent.

The company also said that about 11 million man hours will be deployed to bring this to reality.The Managing Director/Chief Executive, Total Upstream Companies in Nigeria, Mr. Guy Maurice, who disclosed this at the just_concluded 3rd Deep Offshore West Africa Conference, DOWC, in Abuja, further disclosed that a third and bigger deepwater project, Egina, is anticipated to come on stream two years after Usan, by 2014, with a planned production of 200,000 bpd.

Egina, he said, would open up “the prospect of jobs in a 30-million-manhour project with a record-breaking level of anticipated Nigerian content.”

If all of these come to pass, Total’s combined deepwater production would be in excess of 550,000 bpd including the first deepwater operation, Akpo, which commenced production in the first quarter of 2009 with a capacity of 175,000 bpd.

In addition to all of these, Maurice, who spoke during the All Convention Luncheon, sponsored by Total, said the oil company is looking forward to developing other oil and gas projects Egina South, Preowei, Ikike, Nkarika, and Etisong, all in Nigeria’s deep offshore region, where companies face lower risks of production disruptions.

However, in spite security challenges coupled with the other myriad of challenges faced by operators in the industry, Maurice believes that the Federal Government’s Amnesty programme for ex_militants has boosted activities in the sector.

He noted that given the increasing global demand for fuel for various economic activities, there is a corresponding increasing challenge for oil companies to provide the required fuel at affordable prices.

“To do this, our industry has to find and refine hydrocarbon at the cheapest possible cost. But we know that the era of cheap oil discoveries seems to have gone. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find cheap sources of hydrocarbon with existing technology.”
He added that Total strives to overcome this challenge by continuously investing in Research and Development, “which is aimed not only to ensure that we develop appropriate technology for the challenge of finding and producing oil and gas for the 21st century and beyond, but technology that will come with the highest possible degree of environmental friendliness.”
Against this backdrop, Maurice said the role of oil and gas professional bodies like the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists, NAPE, and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, AAPG, organisers of the DOWAC, cannot be over_emphasised  in the development of the industry in particular and the nation at large.