Eland Oil & Gas has announced that, following the successful operation on OP7, the OML 40 joint-venture partnership has committed to the drilling of the Opuama-9 and Opuama-10 infill wells on Opuama field.
Eland's joint-venture Company, Elcrest Exploration and Production Nigeria Ltd ("Elcrest"), has signed a rig contract with OES Energy Services Limited ("OES"), for the OES Teamwork Rig for this upcoming continuous drilling campaign.
Once drilling is complete at Opuama-8, the OES Teamwork Rig will mobilise to the Opuama-9 drill site and commence operations, expected in January 2018, before moving to the Opuama-10 drill site. Upon completion of drilling, Opuama-9 and Opuama-10 are expected to contribute initial production rates of 4,000 to 6,000 barrels of oil per day ("bopd") each. This increases the potential near term overall production from OML 40 to around an expected 30,000 bopd gross.
George Maxwell, CEO of Eland, commented:
"Completion of the Opuama infill drilling campaign has the potential to increase OML 40's gross production to over 30,000 barrels of oil per day in H1 2018. This is an over tenfold increase in reported production, taking place in under two and a half years. Securing the sustained drilling program for OML 40 will drive the Company forward to become one of the largest, by production volume, E&P Companies on AIM. With increasing production and an improving oil price, our netbacks from OML 40 will significantly drive our net cash generation.
There is strong momentum within the Company and with Elcrest's partner NPDC within the OML 40 joint-venture and we look forward to updating the market on the result of our Opuama drilling campaign as the infill drilling campaign progresses."