By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Mar. 15 -- Esso Exploration & Production Chad Inc., as the Chad-Cameroon development project reached financial completion in the fourth quarter of 2004, said it will develop two more oil fields near project infrastructure in southwestern Chad.
Fourth-quarter oil shipments set a quarterly record of 18.7 million bbl and 22 tanker loadings. The project had shipped 70 million bbl of Chadian crude oil to world markets on 77 tankers since the first oil sale in October 2003.
Employment on the $3.5 billion project fell below 3,000 people, the lowest since construction began, as the work force dropped one third from the first to the fourth quarters.
Chad President Idriss Deby signed concession decrees permitting development of Nya and Moundouli fields. The two fields, in the original Permit H exploration area, are subject to the same royalty percentage paid on oil sold from the project's original three fields.
Project progress
Kome, Bolobo, and Miadoum had 204 producing wells as formal completion of the project was declared in December.
Production averaged as high as 217,000 b/d in some weeks in the quarter, just short of the targeted peak of 225,000 b/d.
An analysis of royalty and tax revenues, debt service, operating and maintenance costs, and recovery of investments revealed that about equal shares of the net revenue will go to the host countries and the consortium over the project's estimated 30-year life.
An oil spill drill mobilized first responders and emergency operations centers to deal with a hypothetical crude oil spill near coastal Kribi, Cameroon, near the marine terminal of the 663-mile Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline.
Before they drill, residents of several fishing villages conducted traditional rituals to appease sea spirits that the drill might disturb. The ceremonies, funded by the project, included dancing and feasting.
Nya, Moundouli fields
The consortium decided in mid-December 2004 to fund development of the two new oil fields.
Nya field is to go on production in late 2005 and Moundouli in mid-2006. Both will be produced through the Miandoum Gathering Station.
Nya, with 4 wells, is adjacent to Miandoum. Moundouli, with 25 wells, is 33 km west of Miandoum and will require a gathering pipeline.
The project held 134 public consultation sessions in the quarter, informing nearly 5,600 people about development of the two new fields.
