NPDC discovers first oil from Opuama wells

The Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) Limited has announced first oil from Opuama oil wells in Oil Mining Licence (OML) 40 within the onshore of the Niger Delta region.

OML 40 is one of the assets that were divested from Shell.

NPDC took over the operatorship in January 2013.It is jointly owned by NPDC (operator) and Elcrest Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited.

To this end, the company said it successfully re-opened two Opuama oil wells with a combined production of 2,500 barrels of oil per day (bpd).

The company said following successful restart of production, it will now progress its field development plan.

A statement from the company said it was anticipated that production will increase to 8,000 bpd by the end of 2014.

The statement said: ‘’The entire development work was carried out by local contractors. This further illustrates the company’s commitment to the Nigerian Content Policy of the Federal Government.”

On taking over the operatorship, NPDC said it focused on the restoration of production by the replacement of corroded in-field flow lines, refurbishment of the 30,000 barrels of liquid per day production flow station and the repair of the 36-km oil export pipeline, including the replacement of all corroded and damaged sections.