The Obiafu 41 discovery is estimated to hold approximately 28 billion cubic metres of gas and 60 million barrels of condensate
Image: Eni begins gas and condensates production in Nigeria. Photo: courtesy of C Morrison from Pixabay.
Italian oil and gas firm Eni has commenced gas and condensate production from the Obiafu 41 discovery in Nigeria’s Niger Delta.
The gas from the discovery will be processed at the Eni-operated Ob-Ob plant and then be sent to the Eni-operated Okpai Power Plant in Nigeria for the supply to the domestic market to feed the power sector.
According to the company’s estimates, the discovery holds approximately 28 billion cubic metres of gas and 60 million barrels of condensate.
Said to be Nigeria’s first independent power plant, the 500MW Okpai plant is one of the most efficient of its kinds in the country. The power plant is currently being upgraded to double its capacity to 1GW.
Eni said in a statement: “Once the upgrade is completed, Eni will generate 20% of the entire national electricity production, establishing itself as the leading electricity producer in the country.”
Gas from Obiafu 41 discovery will largely be served to Nigeria’s power sector
The field is expected to have a full production capacity of about three million cubic metres of gas and 3,000 barrels of condensate per day.
The company supplies about 30% of its gas production to the domestic market in Nigeria.
Through multi-pronged flaring down strategy, the firm plans to achieve zeroing flared gas from all its operations by 2025.
In August this year, Eni and its partners in the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) joint venture (JV) have made a gas and condensate discovery after drilling the Obiafu-41 Deep well.
Following drilling, the Obiafu-41 Deep well intersected a gas and condensate accumulation within the deltaic sequence of Oligocene age.
Eni serves as the operator of the NAOC JV with 20% stake while other partners include Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) with 60% stake, and Oando Energy Resources holding the remaining 20% stake.
Operating in Nigeria since 1962, Eni had an equity hydrocarbon production of 100,000boe/day in 2018. The company’s operated and non-operated production, development and exploration activities are spread over a total of 30,049km² in the onshore and offshore areas of the Niger Delta.