23 September 2011, Sweetcrude, Abuja- Total Nigeria Limited says it is targeting over 160,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil from its deepwater Usan field.
Managing Director of Total’s Upstream Companies in Nigeria, Mr. Guy Maurice, who disclosed this Thursday in Abuja, at the company’s first ever social responsibility conference in Nigeria, said the field would reach first oil in the first quarter of 2012.
Maurice noted that the completion of three deepwater projects, presently at different stages of development in Nigeria’s offshore, could catapult Total, which is currently the fourth largest oil and gas producer in the country, to second in the next five years.
He also stated that the company’s 400 mega watts power generation project in the Niger Delta has reached advanced stage.
“We have engaged the government on a project on 400mw power generation in the Niger Delta. We have done all the technical work, and now we are finalising with the authorities in terms of handling the legal framework in order to be able do the final investment decision,” he said.
On security challenge, he said: “I have to recognise that security in the Niger Delta has been a major challenge for the past two years. But since the government started promoting the amnesty programme since 2009, I have seen tremendous improvements in our area of operations. It does not mean that everything is perfect, but we are working at peace with our community.”
He explained that the peaceful relationship with host communities follows Total’s positive engagement with them. “Apart from physical products like 24 hours power and schools, we are also going into engagement with them to define the projects that they want executed with our assistance. We are going into enterprise development and other things that are sustainable so that they can progressively take over the development of their area by themselves,” he said.
