09 April 2015, Lagos – Sahara Group’s Upstream Company says it is making good progress with its activities in OPL 274 where Sahara has a 100 percent working interest and would soon begin exploration of oil in commercial quantity.
The company said it has continued to press towards optimizing opportunities in the block where it hit “first oil,” noting that the Sahara’s Upstream division of the company last year doubled its certified 2P reserves in the Oki-Oziengbe South field in Edo State, Nigeria, making a new commercial discovery with the Oluegi-1 exploration well.
According to the Managing Director of Enageed, the Sahara Upstream company operating OPL 274, Segun Ogunwumi, the company has continued to witness steady positive outcomes in its activities in OPL 274 preparatory to moving on to the phase of commercial production from the field. “We are doing very well with our timelines and remain focused on the target ahead. We have an amazing collection of staff who are working alongside our regulators and key stakeholders and we remain confident that we will achieve our timelines and ultimately extract maximum value from what has been a historic success so far in OPL 274,” he said.
Ogunwumi said that whilst the focus on OPL 274 has since taken precedence over other assets where it has interests, the company remains resolute in its commitment to activities in other fields, adding that it would review its position on others following strategic consultations. “We are working closely with the regulatory body and all stakeholders on this,” he said.
Chief Operating Officer, Sahara Upstream, Cohen Curtis Cohen, had at the point of discovery of oil in OPL 274, described the feat as representing a number of firsts for Sahara. “We shot our first onshore 3D seismic, drilled and operated our first onshore wells, made our first oil discovery and first appraisal, and tested first oil at rates in excess of 5600 barrels of oil per day. We drilled the three wells back-to-back in just ten months, from a common location and a minimal environmental footprint, and all three wells found commercial hydrocarbons,” he said.
The company explained that Oluegi-1 was drilled directionally to a total depth (TD) of 14,887 ft. measured depth (MD) with a horizontal displacement of 2.7 km north of the well head and encountered five hydrocarbon zones, totaling 110 ft. of net pay. It also noted that Sahara also drilled two successful appraisal wells, Oki-Oziengbe South 4 and 5, saying that Oki-Oziengbe South 4 drilled directionally to TD at 12,520 feet MD 1.1 km SW from the well head, logging 211 feet of net pay in 13 hydrocarbon bearing zones, seven of which were new.
– Daily Independent