Chevron, Providence Resources pull out of Lagos oil field development project

By The Citizen

The Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum-promoted Aje gas and condensate field, located in the Bight of Benin Basin, offshore Badagry in Lagos State, is facing tough times as some of the earlier investors - Chevron Nigeria Deepwater and Providence Resources Oil and Gas have pulled out of the deal.

A source at the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) told our correspondent Monday, that Yinka Folawiyo has 60 per cent interest in the OML 113 with the remaining 40 per cent owned by a joint venture of Chevron Nigeria Deepwater, Vitol Exploration Nigeria, Panoro Energy, Energy Equity Resources and Jacka Resources.

According to the source, Chevron was appointed as the technical advisor to the operator for the project and also assigned the responsibility to prepare a development plan for the field, but later pulled out of the deal.

Also, The Guardian gathered that Providence Resources Oil and Gas earlier held a 2.667 per cent interest in the OML 113, which it later sold to Jacka Oil.

The source told our correspondent  that during the same period, Chevron also sold its interest to Energy Equity Resources.

The Aje oil field is currently in the development planning stage, with first production expected in 2014. The field is expected to reach a plateau production of 50,000 to 80,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) a day.

Aje was discovered by the Aje-1 well in 1996. The well encountered oil and gas over three zones of the Cretaceous Turonian age. It flowed at the rate of 60.2 million standard cubic feet of gas a day (mmscfd), 1,729 barrels of condensate a day (bcpd) and 2,389 barrels of oil a day (bpd).

In 1997, an appraisal well, Aje-2, was drilled one kilometre East of the Aje-1 well. It confirmed the presence of oil and gas in the Turonian reservoir as discovered by the Aje-1 well and encountered a deeper separate additional zone of the Cenomanian formation.

A third well, Aje-3, was drilled by Transocean's Sedco 709 semi-submersible rig in 2005. Although the reservoir quality was not optimum, the well encountered an oil and gas-bearing column within the Turonian and Cenomanian reservoirs.

In the first quarter of 2008, another appraisal well called Aje-4 was drilled by the Transocean Deepwater Pathfinder drill-ship to carry out a complete appraisal of the field. Aje-4 well was drilled to assess the extent of the field and identify additional exploration targets. The well encountered hydrocarbon reserves in the main Turonian reservoir.

Drilling of the Aje-4 well confirmed the field contains a laterally extensive reservoir structure. The field was declared a commercial prospect in February 2009.

Appraisal of the field was based on 915km of 2D seismic data, 700km2 of 3D seismic data and an electromagnetic survey.

A total of six producers are planned for the field. They will be connected to subsea wellheads and associated flowlines and manifolds in 320ft water depth. The flowlines will, in turn, be connected to the FPSO through risers. Produced hydrocarbons will be processed by the FPSO and exported through the West African Gas pipeline or through a direct pipeline to connect to the Lagos gas infrastructure. The Guardian