Chevron Returns To Drill Site In Nigeria October 16, 2013
This marks a return of the Chevron/NNPC joint venture to shallow water drill-site in Nigeria.
Incidentally, the ill- fated Funiwa drilling itself was to mark a return to the company’s shallow water drilling, after a hiatus beginning in mid -2010. In fact, Chevron has been largely absent from Nigerian drilling for upwards of three years and is the one company whose rig activity is sharply at variance with the spike in the country’s rig count between 2010 and 2013.
The four Meren wells to be drilled by Adriatic IX are new take points to help maintain oil production as well as deliver gas for one of the three phases of the Escravos Gas Project. Chevron produces about 520,000BOPD in Nigeria, half of which comes from onshore and shallow water. Agbami produces about 250,000BOPD. Chevron’s three gas projects have a combined capacity of 680MMscf/d, with 300MMscf/d pumped into the Escravos Lagos Pipeline system, the nerve of the country’s domestic gas network. Meren is an old Chevron field, discovered over 30 years ago and still delivering in excess of 50,000BOEPD.
Chevron is also working on returning to drill in its swamp assets (Gbokoda, Benin River, Abiteye..), from which it has refrained after attacks 10 years ago. The company has since refurbished the facilities and lined up plans to drill as many as 30 wells in the swamp area beginning in 2012. But the plan was put on hold. Militant attacks are quite frequent in the swamp, where criminal gangs have created zones that oil companies are barred from reaching. The government has struggled with security.