Positive well tests in Angola, Nigeria

LUANDA, April 13, 2016 – Angola’s Sonangol declared three wells commercial on Tuesday after confirming the presence of natural gas and condensates. The announcement concerns a well in the Lower Congo Basin and two in the Kwanza Basin. On Wednesday, Lekoil also successfully tested a Nigerian well. Located in Block 15/14, the Lira-1 well was labelled commercial after discovering of a gas and condensates reservoir, as did the Katambi-1 well in the Kwanza Basin’s Block 21/11. According to a Sonangol statement, initially in-place stock tank reserves for the latter came out at 280 million barrels of condensate, 1.7 billion barrels of oil equivalent and 227 mcm (8 bcf) of natural gas. Estimates for the Lontra-1 well in Block 20/15, also in the Kwanza Basin, were reported at 139 million barrels of condensate, 570 million billion barrels of oil equivalent and 70.8 bcm (2.5 tcf) of gas. The well test results for Lekoil’s Otakikpo field in Nigeria were also positive, as the Otakikpo-002 showed good flow rates of from two zones. “The C5 zone flowed at a peak rate of 6,404 bopd at a 36/64 choke while the C6 zone successfully flowed oil at a peak rate of 5,684 bopd at a 36/64 inch choke, for over 24 hours,” a company statement read. According to Lekoil, commercial production is expected by the end of June. Around the same time, the Otakikpo-003 well is expected start targeting zones E1 and C5. By the end of 2016, production is forecast to reach 10,000 bopd. As part of phase two, production is set to double by year-end 2017. For more news and features on Nigeria, Africa’s most populous state, Nigeria, is the continent’s most mature oil and gas producer, leading sub-Saharan Africa in deepwater production, gas monetisation and local content initiatives.Nigerian oilfield services providers have seen great benefit from the government’s regulation of the oil and gas industry, notably with The Nigerian Content Development Act passed in 2010. However, the oil and gas industry has been anxiously waiting for a new Petroleum Industry Bill since 2012. Nigeria’s hydrocarbons production is still hampered by corruption and oil theft from pipelines, while the natural gas sector is restricted by the lack of infrastructure to monetise gas that is currently flared. If enacted, the oil bill and new regulatory terms could open the way to a series of planned upstream deepwater projects that are expected to increase Nigerian oil production in the medium term.