Lekoil: Production starts from Otakikpo field (Nigeria)

Lekoil has announced the start of oil production from the Otakikpo Marginal Field (Otakikpo) in oil mining lease (OML) 11 which is located on the shoreline in the south-eastern part of the Niger Delta.

Following the successful re-entry of the Otakikpo-002 well, first oil flowed to surface late on September 5, 2015, with production testing being conducted over the weekend. The Otakikpo-002 well produced from only the first of four planned production strings, and flowed oil at various choke sizes for over 24 hours at a peak rate of 5,703bopd at a 36/64 inch choke, significantly ahead of expectations, Lekoil said in a statement on Monday.

Lekoil has said that it has taken just nine months for the Otakikpo Joint Venture (Lekoil as Financial and Technical Partner and Green Energy International (“Green Energy”) as Operator) to bring the Otakikpo field into production since it began operations on the field in December 2014, and less than 16 months in total since Lekoil entered into a farm-in agreement with Green Energy.

Otakikpo-002 will now be temporarily suspended to allow completion and testing of the upper C5 zone following which an official well-test program will start and the rig will move to start re-entry operations on Otakikpo-003. During the well-test, oil will flow into onshore storage tanks. The second production well, Otakikpo-003, is expected to come on stream around year end.

Lekan Akinyanmi, Lekoil’s CEO, said, “We are delighted to announce that Lekoil is now an oil producer. We always believed in the potential of Otakikpo but the production rate from the first re-entered well has exceeded our expectations. This is a real achievement for the Otakikpo Joint Venture. I would like to thank the entire team that has worked so hard to deliver this result, our partners Green Energy, investors and our host communities for their continued support.”

“However, there is a lot more to be done. We expect to finalize the evacuation infrastructure during the official well test period and determine the optimal production rate that maximizes value from the two wells.”

“Production at Otakikpo represents the first major step in fulfilling our strategy to be the world’s leading E&P company focused on Africa and maximizing value for our stakeholders and host communities in a sustainable manner. Safety remains our key priority and we will continue applying the highest standard to our operations as we grow production to, and now beyond, our initial Phase 1 target.”

The field development plan for Otakikpo consists of two phases: Phase 1 comprises the recompletions of two wells, Otakikpo-002 and Otakikpo-003 with the installation of an Early Production Facility of 6,000 bopd capacity and export via shuttle tanker. Phase 2 covers the subsequent incremental development of the rest of the field with a new Central Processing Facility and seven new wells expected to come on stream during 2017.

Phase 2 covers the subsequent incremental development of the rest of the field with a new Central Processing Facility and seven new wells expected to come on stream during 2017.