Second of 3 oil fields starting up to feed Chad-Cameroon pipeline

Feb. 18, 2004
The Chad-Cameroon oil field and pipeline project is on target to achieve full production in the first quarter of 2004, said operator Esso Chad Inc.

By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Feb. 18 -- The Chad-Cameroon oil field and pipeline project is on target to achieve full production in the first quarter of 2004, said operator Esso Chad Inc.

Reporting project progress for the fourth quarter of 2003, Esso Chad said nine tankers laden with Chadian crude oil had sailed from the port of Kribi, Cameroon. The first oil shipped through the 1,070 km pipeline from southern Chad arrived at Kribi in mid-September, and the first tanker to sail carried 950,000 bbl of oil (OGJ Online, Oct. 13, 2003).

The first 6 wells in Miandoum field began producing around the end of June 2003. By yearend, 115 wells were drilled in the project's three fields, and drilling was completed in Miandoum field and had begun in Kome field with 5 rigs running there. The company had also drilled the first few wells in Bolobo field.

With central oilfield facilities 99% complete at Kome at yearend, the field is to begin producing this quarter, the company said. A total of 250 wells are planned in the three fields.

A study showed that in 2002, the peak construction year, economic effects due to the project were equivalent to 20.7% of Chad's gross domestic product for the study's baseline year of 2000. The study showed that this effect will rise to 26% in 2005, expected to be the first full year of peak oil production.

Esso Chad did not provide production or export rates, but the export of 9 million bbl of oil from July through December implies that production averaged at least 75,000 b/d during the period. Peak project rate is 225,000 b/d.

The project is a partnership of the Governments of Chad and Cameroon, the World Bank Group, and sponsors Esso Exploration & Production Chad Inc. 40%, Malaysia 's national oil company Petronas Carigali Sdn. Bhd. 35%, and ChevronTexaco Corp 25%. Esso Chad is a subsidiary of ExxonMobil Development Co.