Always nice to have upside surprises and today’s news from Afren is most welcome. To be knocking out 5000 bopd from a well drilled just 9 months ago is pretty impressive. More impressive is the total 21,500 bopd from the area to date.
Afren also have a new presentation available – you can access it here Strength_To_Strength_Africa_Oil_Week
News on Kurdistan ops is long over due but there may be reasons for the delay as highlighted in earlier posts. Perhaps when GKP’s court case is over – Afren will release news on Simrit-2.
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31 October 2012, Afren plc (AFR LN)
First oil at Okoro Extension
London, 31 October 2012 – Afren plc (“Afren” or the “Company”) announces that production has commenced from the Okoro Field Extension, offshore south east Nigeria, at a stabilised rate of 5,000 bopd of 38deg API oil, increasing total output from the Okoro area to approximately 21,500 bopd.
The Okoro-14 (Okoro Field Extension) development well was drilled by Afren and partner Amni International Petroleum Development Company Ltd. (“Amni”) from the existing Okoro main field wellhead platform (“WHP”), with the objective of establishing early production from the new field extension that was announced in January 2012. The well targeted Tertiary aged reservoir sands within a new play comprising a deeper buried horst block structure. The well has been completed and brought onstream via the existing Okoro floating production storage offloading vessel (“FPSO”) at a stabilised rate of 5,000 bopd of 38deg API oil, making it the most productive well drilled in the Okoro area to date. The Adriatic IX drilling rig has now been relocated to the Ebok field in order to undertake planned rig-based work, which includes the drilling of a development well to similarly establish early production from the Ebok North Fault Block discovery that was announced in May 2012.
Osman Shahenshah, Chief Executive of Afren, commented:
“I am delighted that we have commenced early production at the Okoro Field Extension, just nine months after the initial discovery. This is clear evidence that we are creating tangible value and volume growth from our ongoing exploration drilling campaign, and further testament to the Afren team’s fast track development capabilities. Not only will we see an outstanding economic return from early development wells that utilise existing infrastructure, but we will also gain valuable production experience and reservoir data that will assist in optimising the full field development solution. We are looking to replicate this early production template at the Ebok North Fault Block discovery as we work towards realising the full production potential of our high quality Nigerian asset base.