Gbetiokun oil field offshore Nigeria has come on stream through an early production facility, reports Eland Oil & Gas, Aberdeen.
Initial production will rise to 12,000 b/d from the Gbetiokun-1 and Gbetiokun-3 wells in the southwestern area of OML 40.
The early production facility has nominal capacity of 22,000 b/d. Shuttle tankers carry the crude to the main OML export pipeline.
Modularity of the early production system allows expansion of capacity in the next 12-18 months, Eland said.
The first development phase focuses on three of the deepest of 19 oil-bearing reservoirs in what Eland describes as a relatively simple dip-closed structure. Depths of all the reservoirs range from 5,000 ft to 10,000 ft.
The second phase will target less well-defined shallower reservoirs.
Eland said as many as five more first-phase wells will be drilled this year and next.
A dedicated pipeline linked to the Forcados export system is planned.
Eland holds a 45% interest in OML 40. Nigerian National Petroleum Corp., the operator, holds 55%.
Also on OML 40, Opuama oil field, brought on stream in 2014, produces about 29,000 b/d (OGJ Online, Feb. 5, 2014).
