An ambitious project to map African oil and gas prospects has produced its first findings in a report on the Niger Delta basin.
The Niger Delta, says analyst Petroconsultants SA, Geneva, is a typical deltaic province. It includes the coastal and shelf parts of Nigeria and a small portion of Cameroon (Rio del Rey) and Equatorial Guinea.
The Nigerian sector is the hottest, with 10 blocks recently awarded. These have potential reserves of 1.65 billion bbl of oil in prospects smaller than 50 million bbl.
ln Nigeria, 73% of discoveries are smaller than 50 million bbl, with a 42% success rate for wildcats. There are "out of round" prospects off Nigeria, too, with a number of companies currently in discussions.
British Petroleum Co. plc and Den norske stats oljeselskap AS are negotiating with the Nigerian government, under the BP-Statoil alliance, for offshore Oil Prospecting License (OPL) 213. They hope to sign a contract this month or next, having previously been awarded OPLs 217 and 218.
Petroconsultants said there are further opportunities for exploration in the Northern Onshore Fringe Belt, which has an estimated potential of 500 million bbl of reserves. Three OPLs are open.
In the offshore belt there is a potential 1. 1 billion bbl in OPLs still open or awarded since 1990, excluding 45 nonproducing discoveries. The deepwater offshore sector has been divided into OPLs and offered with limited success since 1973. Potential reserves figures are unavailable.
There are no exploration opportunities in the central part of the delta, says Petroconsultants.
There, Shell Petroleum Development Co. of Nigeria Ltd. renewed its Oil Mining Lease in 1989 for another 30 years. The remaining concessions, belonging to Nigerian Agip Oil Co., Elf Nigeria Ltd., and Chevron Corp., will come up for renewal in 1996 or 1997.
Although no bidding rounds are imminent, Cameroon is considering holding an onshore licensing round covering the northern part of the country between Nigeria and Chad.
To date 29.2 billion bbl of oil have been discovered in the delta: 23.3 billion bbl in the Nigerian sector, 937 million bbl in Rio del Rey, and 45 million bbl of condensate in Equatorial Guinea.
This study is the first in a planned series of 25, which will be published during the next 2 years. A volume on Somalia and East Africa's rift basins is to be next.
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