Lagos Oilfield Output Drops, Further Drilling Expected in 2019

• Lagos Oilfield Output Drops, Further Drilling Expected in 2019

The Aje field, offshore Lagos, where crude oil production started nearly two and a half years ago, saw its output decline by 75,936 barrels to 912,870 barrels last year, latest data from the Department of Petroleum Resources showed.

The field began production with 127,224 barrels of oil in May 2016, and produced a total of 988,806 barrels that year, according to the reconciled production figures obtained from the DPR.

Its output fell from a high of 182,131 barrels in July to 70,878 barrels in December 2016. It dipped further to 53,613 barrels in April 2017 before rising to 103,942 barrels in July but declined to 58,255 barrels in December.

Crude oil export from Aje field fell to 822,669 barrels in 2017 from 922,703 barrels the previous year, with Oceania/Pacific and Europe being the export destinations.

Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum Company Limited, a wholly owned indigenous firm, is the operator of the Oil Mining Lease 113, where the field is located. Other partners are Pan Petroleum Aje Limited (a subsidiary of Panoro Energy), New Age Exploration Nigeria Limited, EER (Colobus) Nigeria Limited, and PR Oil & Gas Nigeria Limited (the holder of MX Oil’s investment in the field).

The field is expected to achieve a plateau production ranging between 50,000 and 80,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, the operator said on its website.

It said gross contingent resources of the Aje field were estimated at 380 million boe, with 28 per cent being oil and condensate, 20 per cent Liquefied Petroleum Gas and 52 per cent gas.

London-based MX Oil, in its report for the six months to June 30, 2018, released in September, said the field had continued to produce at a relatively stable rate of around 3,300 barrels of oil per day.

It said the operator had received consent from the Minister of Petroleum Resources for the renewal of OML 113 for another term of 20 years, adding that the renewal was subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions, including a commitment to develop the gas potential of the licence.

“Now that the company has received the updated Competent Person’s Report, work is currently underway on modelling the potential for new oil wells in both the Turonian and Cenomanian. Subject to the outcome of this modelling work, the company expects to see further development drilling in 2019,” MX Oil said.