Hope Rising for Nigeria as TotalEnergies Announces Commencement of Production at 50,000bpd Oil Field

Peter Uzoho

Nigeria’s hope of reversing its current dip in oil production which stands at a little above one million barrels per day (bpd) yesterday received a boost as TotalEnergies announced that production has started at its 50,000bpd Ikike oil field.

Ikike oilfield is located on Oil Mining Lease (OML) 59, 20 kilometers off the coast, at a depth of about 20 meters. The platform is tied back to the existing Amenam offshore facilities through a 14km multipurpose pipeline.

The French oil major and operator of OML 59 with 40 per cent interest in partnership with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited which holds 60 per cent interest, announced the start of production at Ikike field in a statement issued yesterday in Paris, France.

At peak production, the company said the facility would deliver 50,000bpd of oil equivalent by the end of 2022.

TotalEnergies said the Ikike project leveraged existing facilities to keep costs low, and was designed to minimise greenhouse emissions, estimated at less than 4kg COze/boe.

The international oil company (IOC) added that the facilities would contribute to reducing the average carbon intensity of TotalEnergies’ upstream portfolio.

In addition, the statement noted that 95 per cent of hours was worked locally, while the jackets as well as the topside modules were entirely built and integrated by local contractors.

“TotalEnergies is pleased to start production at Ikike, which was launched a few months before the Covid pandemic, and whose success owes a lot to the full mobilisation of the teams. By tapping discoveries close to existing facilities, this project fits the company’s strategy of focusing on low-cost and low-emission oil projects,” Senior Vice President, Africa, Exploration and Production, TotalEnergies, Henri-Max Ndong-Nzue was quoted to have said in the statement.

Nigeria has continued to witness unabating production deficit for years despite the increase in the country’s monthly production quota by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

The situation has been blamed on a number of factors including the massive oil theft and vandalisation of oil assets, ageing infrastructure, non-restart of oil platforms shut down during COVID, as well as the withdrawal of capital investments for exploration and production by the oil majors, who are now focused on their divestments.