Commercial oil production is expected to start on the Otakikpo marginal field in Oil Mining Lease 11 located on the shoreline in the south-eastern part of the Niger Delta by the end of the second quarter.
Lekoil, the oil and gas exploration and production company with a focus on Nigeria and West Africa, said this in a statement on Wednesday.
The field, which was awarded in 2011 to Green Energy Limited by the Department of Petroleum Resources, achieved first oil in September last year.
It is being undertaken by the joint venture partners — Green Energy International Ltd as the operator and Lekoil Oil & Gas Investment Ltd as technical and financial partner.
According to the latest update from the partners, the Otakikpo-002 well flowed oil from two upper zones during two production tests concluded on April 10, 2016. The C5 zone flowed at a peak rate of 6,404 barrels of oil per day at a 36/64 choke while the C6 zone successfully flowed oil at a peak rate of 5,684 bopd at a 36/64 inch choke, for over 24 hours.
It said production testing at the well was curtailed due to storage capacity limits on well-testing equipment.
Lekoil said, “The JV expects to start commercial production by the end of the second quarter of 2016.
“Following the completion of Otakikpo-002, well re-entry operations on Otakikpo-003 are expected to begin later in the second quarter and will target the E1 and C5 zones.
“The company expects to commence commercial production from Otakikpo-003 in the third quarter of 2016 and expects to be producing 10,000 bopd by year-end 2016. The facilities construction and permits are at an advanced stage to meet the company’s timeline for commercial production.”
