At the moment, Nigeria has a maximum capacity to produce 2.5m barrels of crude oil a day but militancy in the Niger Delta has cut this significantly. However, with this latest discovery, output is expected to multiply significant with ExxonMobil pointing out that it was a significant find with a potential to produce between 500m and 1bn barrels.
According to ExxonMobil, the Owowo-3 well, which was drilled on September 23, encountered about 460 feet of oil-bearing sandstone reservoir. Owowo-3 extended the resource discovered by the Owowo-2 well, which encountered about 515 feet of oil-bearing sandstone reservoir.
Stephen Greenlee, the president of ExxonMobil Exploration Company, said: “We are encouraged by the results and will work with our partners and the government on future development plans.”
He added that the Owowo-3 was safely drilled to 10,410 feet in 1,890 feet of water. The Owowo field spans portions of the contract areas of Oil Prospecting Licence 223 and Oil Mining Licence 139.
This well was drilled by ExxonMobil affiliates, Esso Exploration and Production and Nigeria Deepwater Ventures and proved additional resource in deeper reservoirs. ExxonMobil, the largest publicly traded international oil and gas company, had last week announced the sale of its 60% stake in Mobil Oil Nigeria to Nipco, signalling its exit from Nigeria’s downstream oil and gas sub-sector.
Nigeria’s oil production has risen to 1.9m barrels per day after plummeting to near 30-year lows of around 1.5m to 1.6m in August as a result of the upsurge in militant attacks on oil facilities in the Niger Delta. Government ministers are trying to address the problem by entering into negotiations with militants in the oil-producing Niger Delta.
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