Warming Up for Better Days

Fri, Jul 12, 2013

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Taofiq Tijani, Lagos State commissioner for energy and mineral resources outlines the positive impact oil discovery will have on the state’s economy

|  By Anayo Ezugwu  |  Jul. 22, 2013 @ 01:00 GMT

LAGOS state is a step away from becoming a member of the league of oil producers in the country. This follows the discovery of oil offshore by Afren Plc and Lekoil limited which have concluded plans to commence exploitation of the oil. Other firms that would also be involved in oil exploration include Folawiyo Nigeria Limited, Sunlink Limited, Korea, National Oil Corporation, Marine Oil and Gas, Crownwell and British Oil and Gas. These firms have been issued the Oil Prospecting Licences, OPL, by the federal government.

Taofiq Tijani, commissioner for energy and mineral resources, said the state government and the people of Lagos State were optimistic of the economic boom that the oil discovery would bring to the nation and the state in particular. “We at the ministry of energy and mineral resources have done our work on oil and gas within our state. We know about a company, Agip group, owned by Folawiyo, which drilled and found oil seven years ago but is yet to commence operation. They are yet to drill the oil they found. We are also aware of this new discovery. We know about that oil block owned by AML Group of companies. We know they have been building that block many years back. We were aware when they found the oil and they contacted us so that we can work in partnership to develop that block. So, we are in touch with them. We know about another block 44 3311, owned by Sunlink. We have also been interacting with all the professional groups, geologists, geo-physicists, petroleum engineers and stakeholders to know about the kind of resources that have been found within our off-shore, onshore Lagos,” he said.

According to him, the government is not surprised that oil was discovered in the state. “We have been told all along that off shore Lagos is also a potential oil producing area like Niger Delta if they do enough exploration and exploitation. We know that the reservoir that we are talking about of the new discovery, will amount to that of Jubilee field in Ghana where they are producing oil. So, it’s not news to us that they found oil; it is a thing of joy that they put in money to be able to explore and make arrangements for production. The oil discovery has a very positive economic implication for Nigeria considering the fact that Nigeria has made a projection that we are going to achieve certain billion barrels of reserve in a certain year. We have not been able to make the projection come through because most of the international companies are not doing what they are supposed to do by developing their resources and they are not drilling as they are supposed to do but we don’t blame them because the instrument they need to do all that is not available.”

The discovery is, however, subject to the authentication of the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, which is expected in two weeks. But a source within the DPR, who pleaded anonymity, said the department will verify the discovery first before commenting on it. But he said it would be a matter of time before another oil exploration firm announces new oil discoveries in Lagos. “I can reliably inform you that another leading indigenous company may soon announce oil discoveries from Aje oil assets located on Oil Mining License, OML, 113. It is difficult to predict the time, but it may surely come to pass soon,” he said.

OML 113 is located adjacent to the OPL310 area, where oil discoveries were announced on Wednesday. OML113 hosts the Aje oil and gas field, which is estimated to have contingent resources of nearly 200 millon barrels of oil equivalent. The OML113 licence interest holders include Lekoil, Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum, Vitol Exploration Nigeria, Chevron and P.R Oil and Gas. Optimum, along with drilling partners, Afren and Lekoil, which struck a significant light oil accumulation at the Ogo-1 well on the Ogo prospect in OPL 310 off Nigeria.

Afren, said in a statement said that: “Based on evidence to date, targeted resources are likely to be significantly in excess of previous estimates. The Ogo-1 discovery, testing a four-way dip-closed structure in the Turonian, Cenomanian, and Albian sandstone reservoirs, confirms the extension of the same Cretaceous sandstones that have yielded other significant discoveries along the West African transform margin.”