31 October 2012 – London-listed Afren has started production from the Okoro field extension off south-east Nigeria, boosting its total output from the area to about 21,500 barrels of oil per day.
Together with partner Amni International Petroleum Development Company, Afren drilled the offshore Okoro-14 development well from the existing Okoro main field wellhead platform.
The well targeted Tertiary-aged reservoir sands within a new play comprising a deeper buried horst block structure, with the partners hoping to establish early production from the field extension that was identified at the start of the year.
Okoro-14 was brought on stream via the Okoro floating production, storage and offloading vessel at a stablised rate of 5000 bpd of 38-degree API light crude.
Afren said this output rate made it the most productive well drilled in the Okoro area to date.
Afren chief executive Osman Shahenshah said in a statement on Wednesday that the early Okoro extension production was evidence that that the company was creating tangible value and volume growth from its ongoing exploration drilling campaign.
“Not only will we see an outstanding economic return from early development wells that utilise existing infrastructure, but we will also gain valuable production experience and reservoir data that will assist in optimising the full field development solution,” he added.
The drilling rig Adriatic IX has now moved to the Ebok field to carry out planned rig-based work including the drilling of a development well.
“We are looking to replicate this early production template at the Ebok North Fault Block discovery (announced in May) as we work towards realising the full production potential of our high quality Nigerian asset base,” Shahenshah said.
This piece was written by Danica Newnham for Upstream
