Total, NNPC ready to take FID on Ikike oil field

The dearth of new investments in Nigeria’s upstream oil sub-sector may soon be a thing of the past, as Total Exploration and Production Company in Nigeria and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) are set to take the final investment decision (FID), on the Ikike oil field.
Giving the indication at the arrival ceremony of the Egina floating production storage offloading, FPSO, at the Ladol Island fabrication complex, offshore Lagos, Nicolas Terraz, Managing Director/Chief Executive, Total Upstream Companies in Nigeria, said that Ikike project was the next focus of Total and NNPC.
He said, “We are working on a smaller project on our joint venture with NNPC. It is called the Ikike project. It is our next project. We have not started yet. We are studying security issues. We are working with NNPC to reach the FID.
“It is not exactly the same size of project as the Egina, but we will continue with NNPC and our partners, to grow activities for the benefit of the country.”
He also indicated that the project will witness similar success as the Egina. However, he neither disclosed the cost of the project nor the expected take off time.
Speaking on the Egina, Terraz said, “The Egina arrival is for me a success. This is the first time we have such a project in Nigeria. I am really moved to see this vessel arrive in Nigeria. It is the first time we are having such a big vessel and such activity in Nigeria.
I am proud of this. We are making history in Nigeria. I am grateful to the authorities concerned. We have taken a unique position to continue to invest significantly in Nigeria, notwithstanding the difficult times. For three years now the oil price has been below $50 per barrel. We still have nine months to go, six months here at Ladol and three months at the offshore site.”
Nigeria’s Egina, expected to produce at least 200,000 barrels of oil per day (BOPD) at optimum, will reach first oil latest January 2019. Total holds 40 percent operatorship in the acreage that hosts this project. The Ikike field is in a shallow water offshore Nigeria. It is located in the eastern part of the Oil Mining Lease (OML) 99, which also hosts the iconic Amenam-Kpono field.
Total has been one of the three most aggressive oil major operators in Africa, with a mix of rank wildcat exploration acreage, near term assets and producing properties.
The company is said to have signed a high level cash call exit with Nigeria’s NNPC, which means that the Ikike project will be funded outside the Nigerian official budget.