By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Aug. 3 -- The first of five West Espoir oil wells off Ivory Coast was bought on stream on July 26, said Tullow Oil PLC, which has a 21.33% interest in the project. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., Calgary, is the operator.
The well, drilled on Block CI-26 Special Area E, flowed at more than 5,000 b/d of oil equivalent. The block covers 139 sq km. Development plans call for four additional production wells and two water injection wells. The West Espoir project is expected to reach peak production of 10,000 b/d of oil in late 2007.
The project includes a new wellhead tower tied back via a 5.5-km pipeline to the Espoir floating, production, storage, and offloading vessel, which processes production from both East and West Espoir fields. The two fields together produce more than 35,000 b/d of oil.
