Afren Finds More Oil Off Nigeria

PUBLISHED: Jan 17 2012 @ 09:14 | Comments (0) | More info about Kenneth G. Mondero

Afren (LSE:AFR) released a statement announcing the discovery of oil off of South East Nigeria.

According to the report, the drilling encountered 549 feet true vertical thickness (TVT) of net oil pay and 41 feet of net oil gas in “excellent reservoir sands” in the Okoro East exploration well.

The well is located east of the main Okoro main field, being operated by AFR in a 50-50 interest with Amni International Petroleum Development Company Ltd, an indigenous oil and gas exploration and production company incorporated in 1993.

The Okoru field licence was first held by Total, but was abandoned in 2006. Oil was first discovered in the said area by Japan Petroleum in 1973.

The field covers an area of 438 kilometres squared exclusively granted to AFR for a period of 20 years, which will expire in 2018 through a Production Sharing and Technical Services Agreement.

Gross oil reserves in a 2010 estimate is pegged at 19.5 million barrels, based on the NSAI report. AMNI data set proven and probable (2P) oil reserves at 21.4 million barrels of oil equivalents and proven and probable and possible (3P) at 27.9.

The Okoru field is currently producing 14,600 barrels of oil per day.

CEO Comments

Afren Chief Executive Officer: Osman Shahenshah expressed his delight for this development at the start of the year:

“We are delighted to have made a new oil discovery offshore south east Nigeria in Afren’s core producing area. The proximity of Okoro East to the existing producing Okoro field means that we are well positioned to efficiently monetise this discovery, both in terms of our detailed understanding of the subsurface and proximity to existing infrastructure. The well also opens up additional prospectivity on the block and is a very successful start to our 2012 exploration campaign.”

Shares of AFR were trading at 129.5 pence at 8:55AM GMT, 12.6% up from yesterday’s trade following this announcement.

Company Spotlight

Afren, an international oil & gas company holds 31 licences in countries situated close to the African continent. They are:-

Nigeria
Ghana
Côte d’Ivoire
São Tomé & Príncipe
Congo
South Africa
Ethiopia
Kenya
Madagascar
Seychelles
Tanzania

References

↑ Okoro Setu Oil Field
↑ Amni Internation Petroleum Development Company Limited Asset Portfolio
↑ Afren plc Business Operations

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