Offshore staff
LONDON – Afren has issued an update on its development and exploration campaigns offshore West and East Africa.
Off Nigeria, oil production at the Ebok field has been averaging 27,277 b/d. However, bad weather has delayed installation of the Central Fault Block (CFB) extension platform and drilling of three producer wells targeting additional reservoirs in the CFB.
The platform should be set down before year-end. Batch drilling is also under way from the North Fault Block (NFB) targeting three producers and one water injector. One producer, currently onstream, has tested at rates of up to 5,000 b/d. Production is imminent from the second well.
At the Okoro field production has averaged 16,184 b/d, taking into account planned downtime earlier in the year. Last month, the Okoro-15 producer well came onstream at a rate of 2,000 b/d followed recently by Okoro-12 ST1, which will likely produce at a similar rate.
This summer the partners sanctioned the final investment decision (FID) for the Okoro Further Field Development. They have procured a rig for the mobile offshore platform unit (MOPU) and this is heading to the construction yard in Singapore.
Construction has started of the wellhead platform and should be completed by March 2015. The platform will then be installed at the Okoro field during 2Q 2015, with development drilling starting soon afterward.
The Okwok field wellhead jacket has been fabricated, and installation should be completed this year, followed by the start of development drilling.
Earlier this month, the OML 113 partners sanctioned the FID for the first phase of the Cenomanian development in the Aje field that will include two subsea production wells tied back to a leased FPSO. First oil from Aje is slated for late 2015.
As for offshore exploration, Afren says processing continues of the 2,716-sq km (1,048-sq mi) 3D seismic data acquired in May over Nigerian leases OPL 310 and OML 113; the interpreted data-sets will be used to finalize a well location. Various rig options are under investigation for appraisal drilling in 2015.
Data from the seismic campaign will also assist the Phase 2 development on Aje and to further de-risk exploration potential over the entire block, including the syn-rift potential arising from the large discovery at Ogo in 2013.
Later in the current quarter, the Afren-Oriental joint venture plans to drill the Ebok deep exploration tail, targeting the deeper Qua Iboe and Biafra reservoirs with potential resources of 50 MMbbl. On OML 115, preparations are in hand to spud the Ameena East-1 well in November, using the Adriatic I rig. Here the resource target is 65 MMbbl, in Biafra sands below the regional basal Qua Iboe unconformity.
Off Côte d'Ivoire, Afren has started a 1,780-sq km (687-sq mi) 3D seismic survey on the CI-523 and CI-525 blocks. The data will be processed in 1Q 2015 followed probably by exploration drilling on both blocks.
Offshore Kenya (blocks L17 and L18), Afren plans to shoot a 250-line-km (155-mi) 2D seismic survey this year followed by two exploration wells in 2015. Off Tanzania to the south, the company is focusing on the Nanasi prospect in the deepwater portion of the Tanga block and on raising the shallow-water prospects to ready-to-drill status. This will involve acquiring a 400-sq-km (154-sq-mi) shallow-water 3D seismic survey around the turn of the year, subject to regulatory approval and on Afren receiving sanction to progress into the next license period.
10/30/2014
