Production from the Aje shallow-water field offshore Lagos, which was projected to achieve first oil by the end of January, is now expected to happen by the end of March.
The joint partners on the project had previously targeted December last year for the start of production, but the target was missed.
One of the partners, Panoro Energy, an independent exploration and production company with assets in Nigeria and Gabon, stated in a new update that the final works on the Floating Production, Storage and Offloading vessel had been completed, and the vessel had now left Singapore.
The vessel is expected to arrive in Nigeria mid-March following a brief stop in Cape Town, the company said.
Panoro did not state any reasons for the delay in achieving the January production target.
It, however, stated that all key equipment related to the field development had been delivered to Nigeria, adding that anchor handling operations in the field started in January and would continue until mid-February.
According to the update, the construction vessel has commenced operations and will install the subsea equipment, including the manifold and flowlines during February. Once the FPSO arrives in Nigeria, it will be hooked up to the mooring system and risers, and a short test of the production systems will be conducted.
The Chief Executive Officer, Panoro, John Hamilton, was quoted as saying, “We are excited to be approaching first oil at Aje, offshore Nigeria. Significant operational and contractual progress has been made on the final phase of field development.
“With the drilling phase now concluded, the installation work and the arrival of the FPSO are the main remaining work streams. The field is expected to be producing by the end of March 2016.”
The joint venture partners led by Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum Company Limited (the operator) had in October 2014 taken the final investment decision to develop the first phase of the Aje field.
Aje is an offshore field located in the western part of Nigeria in the Dahomey Basin at the border with Benin Republic.
The field is situated in water depths ranging from 100 metres to 1,000 metres, about 24 kilometres from the coast. The field contains hydrocarbon resources in sandstone reservoirs in three main levels – a Turonian gas condensate reservoir, a Cenomanian oil reservoir and an Albian gas condensate reservoir.
Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum Company is the operator, with 25 per cent interest in the field. The other partners are Vitol, First Hydrocarbons Nigeria Limited, Energy Equity Resources Limited, Panoro Energy ASA and Jacka Resources Limited.
The JV partners had in January 2014 submitted the Field Development Plan for the Aje field to the Department of Petroleum Resources. The FDP was approved in March and is primarily focused on the development of the Cenomanian oil reservoir.