Uchenna Izundu
International Editor
LONDON, Jan. 25 -- Partners in the M'Boundi oil field in the Congo have started to inject water in the MBD-406 and MBD-407 wells after a 2-month delay.
The partners—Burren Energy PLC, Tullow Oil PLC, National Congolese Petroleum Co., and Maurel & Prom—plan to increase water injection capacity to 60,000 b/d from 20,000 b/d in mid-2007 and to 120,000 b/d in 2008 under a drilling program and conversion of 16 additional injector wells this year. This is expected to improve recovery rates and prolong the life of the field, although operator Maurel & Prom said it was not yet sure by how much.
The partners were late in injecting water because they did not receive equipment supplies on time. "The impact of water injection on oil production will become known gradually during 2007 after at least 6 months," Maurel & Prom said.
By injecting water, the M'Boundi field, which produced 56,100 gross b/d of oil in 2006, is expected to be a major producer for Maurel & Prom. Fewer development wells will be drilled on M'Boundi because of the proposed injector wells: 11 net new producers are planned compared with 23 in 2006.
Burren has reduced its share of M'Boundi production to 31% from 35% because some production wells are undergoing water injection.
Maurel & Prom has a 48.6% stake, and Burren holds a 31.5% interest. Tullow has 11%, and National Congolese Petroleum 8.9%.
Contact Uchenna Izundu at [email protected].
