…As NNPC challenges NLNG shareholders on production capacity***
Determination and perseverance may have finally paid off as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Friday announced the discovery, in commercial quantity, hydrocarbon deposits in the Kolmani River II Well on the Upper Benue Trough, Gongola Basin, in the North Eastern part of the country.
The Corporation indicated this in a statement signed by its acting Spokesman, Mr. Samson Makoji, in Abuja, noting that the drilling of the Kolmani River II Well was flagged-off by President Muhammadu Buhari on February 2nd.
Makoji said that NNPC acquired 435.54km2 of 3D Seismic Data over Kolmani Prospect in the Upper Benue Trough, Gongola Basin.
He said this was to evaluate Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) Kolmani River 1 Well Discovery of 33 BCF and explore deeper levels.
“The well was drilled with “IKENGA RIG 101” to a total depth of 13,701 feet encountering oil and gas in several levels.
“A Drill Stem Test (DST) is currently on-going to confirm the commercial viability and flow of the Kolmani River reservoirs,” he said.
Makoji explained that on Oct.10th at 18:02hours, one of the reservoirs was perforated and hydrocarbon started flowing to the well head at 21:20hours in which the gas component was flared to prevent air charge around the Rig.
“Preliminary reports indicated that the discovery consists of gas, condensate and light sweet oil of API gravity ranging from 38 to 41 found in stacked siliciclastic cretaceous reservoirs of Yolde, Bima Sandstone and Pre-Bima formations.
“Computation of hydrocarbon volume is ongoing and will be announced in due course,” he added.
The spokesman said the NNPC had also acquired additional 1183km2 of 3D seismic data over highly prospective areas of Gongola Basin with a view to evaluating the full hydrocarbon potential of the Basin.
He said that NNPC had deployed world class cutting-edge technologies including Surface Geochemistry, Ground Gravity/Magnetic, Stress Field Detection, Full Tensor Gradiometry aerial surveys to de-risk exploration in the frontier basins.
“The NNPC plans to drill additional wells for full evaluation of the hydrocarbon volume in the Gongola Basin,” Makoji said
During the spud-in ceremony of Kolmani River II, Buhari had stated the commitment of his administration to the exploration for Oil and Gas in the frontier basins in the entire length and breadth of the country.
The basins include: the Benue Trough, Chad Basin, Sokoto and Bida Basins.
He also said that attention would be given to the Dahomey and Anambra Basins which had already witnessed oil and gas discoveries.
The discovery of oil and gas in commercial quantity in the Gongola Basin will attract foreign investment, generate employment for people to earn income and increase government revenues.
Also read: OML 65: NNPC seals $875.75m financing deal with CPDC
In the meantime, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has challenged shareholders of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) to work towards expanding the production capacity of the company beyond Train 7.
The Group Managing Director of NNPC, Malam Mele Kyari, gave the charge in a statement signed by the Acting Spokesman for the Corporation, Mr Samson Makoji in Abuja, on Friday
Kyari spoke during the signing ceremony of a 2.5 billion dollar pre-payment agreement between NNPC and NLNG for Upstream gas development projects to supply gas to NLNG Trains 1 – 6.
He said the agreement would help to resolve the issues around gas supply to Trains 1 – 6, adding that there was need to fast-track action on the process of bringing more trains on stream.
He noted that though NLNG had been a huge success as a company, it must go beyond its current achievements and initiate other viable projects capable of generating better return on investment.
“Actually, our thinking should be on what else we can do or what other projects we can work on as quickly as possible to take advantage of the enormous potential in-country.
“There is also the need for us to take advantage of what is happening in the global market and do things very differently.
“There are opportunities there and our company must move into those locations and we must move fast,” he added.
The GMD said the pre-payment gas supply agreement was a milestone which aligned with the Federal Government’s aspirations of monetising the nation’s enormous gas resources.
He added it would also help in protecting the Federation’s investment in the NLNG, ensuring full capacity utilization (22mtpa LNG and 5mtpa NGLs) of Trains 1-6 plants, generating employment, and providing new vistas of growth opportunities in the nation’s LNG sector.
Earlier in his address, the Managing Director of NLNG, Mr Tony Attah, noted that the signing of the gas supply pre-payment agreement was a significant step towards ensuring the company’s business sustainability and competitiveness.
He called for support to ensure that the Final Investment Decision on the Train 7 Project would be taken in 2019 without failure.
He added that the project was no longer an ambitious one in the light of developments in the global LNG market.
The signing of the gas supply pre-payment agreement was witnessed by the Country Chairman of Shell Companies in Nigeria, Mr Osagie Okunbor, and representatives of Total, Eni/NAOC, among others.
