of joining the country's oil-producing states with the
discovery of crude oil in commercial quantities in the
coastal state. Yesterday, Afren Plc
and its partner, Lekoil Limited, announced significant oil
discovery offshore Dahomey Basin in Lagos, according to the
London Stock Exchange.
Lagos-Oil
In separate announcements, the partners said they
discovered a significant light oil accumulation based on the
results of drilling and wire line logs from a high impact
Ogo-1 well, located on the Oil Prospecting Licence, OPL 310
offshore Nigeria.
Afren is optimistic that the discovery is likely to be
significantly higher than the anticipated 78 million barrels of
oil equivalent (mmboe), which encourages search to further
high potential zones.
The discovery is subject to the authentication of the
Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), which is expected
in two weeks.
If certified and the partners produce the first barrel of oil,
Lagos will become the 11th oil producing state in Nigeria, a
club Anambra State joined recently. It will also boost the
economy of Lagos, which currently generates about N29
billion internally every month.
The other oil producing states are Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa,
Rivers, Delta, Ondo, Abia, Imo, Edo and Cross River.
Geological studies indicate that the Dahomey Basin is a
combination of inland/coastal/offshore basin that cuts
across some West African countries including Lagos, Nigeria
as well as Southeastern Ghana, Togo and the Republic of
Benin.
The basin is said to be separated from the Niger Delta by a
surface basement popularly called the Okitipupa Ridge.
"The Ogo-1 well has been drilled to a total measured depth of
10,518 ft (10,402 ft true vertical depth sub sea), and has
encountered a gross hydrocarbon section of 524 ft, with 216 ft
of net stacked pay.
"The well was targeting 78 mmboe of gross P50 prospective
resources, but based on evidence to date, targeted resources
are likely to be significantly in excess of previous estimates,"
Afren said in a statement made available to Vanguard.
The company added that "further evaluation using wire line
log analysis is currently underway prior to extending the well
to a total measured depth of 11,800 ft (11,684 ft true vertical
depth sub sea) to target further high potential zones."
DPR yet to authenticate discovery
However, speaking with Vanguard on phone, the DPR said
authentication of the discovery could only come after side-
tracking (ST) verifications.
OPL 310—Map showing the location of OPL 310 , along the
Dahomey Basin.
OPL 310—Map showing the location of OPL 310 , along the
Dahomey Basin.
A top management source in the upstream unit of the
regulatory agency, said: "As far as we are concerned, the
discovery for now is very speculative. The side track will
indicate whether the resource they have found is actually
crude, and this verification takes about two weeks.
Thereafter, the company will communicate the tracking
result to us, after which we will certify the discovery."
Partners plan side track
Ahead of the planned ST, Afren expressed confidence that
estimated reserves of about 124 mmboe have a better than 50
per cent, P50, chance of being technically and economically
producible.
"Partners intend to drill a planned side-track, Ogo-1 ST,
which will test a new play of stratigraphically trapped
sediments that pinch-out onto the basement high targeting
124 mmboe of gross P50 prospective resources," it confirmed
in the statement.
Commenting, the Chief Executive of Afren, Mr. Osman
Shahenshah, said: "The discovery of oil in the Ogo-1 well opens
up a new oil basin in an under-explored region and
represents a possible extension of the West African
Transform Margin.
"Based on evidence to date, targeted resources are likely to be
significantly in excess of previous estimates, with some high-
potential zones still to be drilled. We look forward to working
with our partners to realise the full potential of Ogo 1 and our
additional prospects on the licence.
"The Ogo-1 exploration success follows a series of recent
discoveries, Okoro Field Extension, Ebok North Fault Block
and Okwok in Nigeria and Simrit-2 and Simrit-3 on the Ain
Sifni Block in the Kurdistan region of Iraq."
On his part, Lekoil CEO, Mr. Lekan Akinyanmi, said: "The
discovery of oil in the Ogo-1 well opens up a new oil basin in
an under-explored region and represents a possible extension
of the Cretaceous play along the West African Transform
Margin. The discovery is a clear validation of Lekoil's
technical analysis and of our extensive studies on the
Dahomey Basin.
"Results to date indicate that the discovered resources could be
significantly in excess of P50 estimates prior to drilling. While
Lekoil notes these results are preliminary, we believe there
exists substantial scope for upward revisions to the data
announced today (Wednesday) as drilling and interpretation
continues.
"We look forward to working with our partners to realise the
full potential of Ogo and the additional prospects on the
licence."
Equity participations
The Ogo-1 well is being drilled by Afren, as technical partner,
under a farm out to Lekoil, as announced on May 14, 2013.
Vanguard
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