Nigeria’s oil production capacity is expected to be buoyed as the multi-billion Egina deepwater project comes on stream effective from the fourth quarter of this year.
The project, if streamed as projected, is expected to increase the nation’s oil production by 200,000 barrels per day (bpd), indicating at least 10 percent increase to the current production output by the country.
Nigeria’s oil output has stagnated in the past few years due to volatility in the oil producing Niger Delta region and under-investment in critical infrastructure that would have increased the country’s productivity.
Giving the projected impact of the $16 billion Egina deepwater project on the nation’s production when it comes on stream later this year, the Managing Director, Total Upstream Nigeria, Nicolas Terraz, described Egina as the biggest oil and gas investment in Nigeria so far.
Terraz, who spoke at an industry forum in Lagos, noted that there had been no new big oil fields developed for production in the country in nearly five years which makes the Egina project pivotal to Nigeria’s production capacity.
He said: “In the operational phase, Egina will add 200,000 b/d to the production of the country, representing about 10 per cent of Nigeria’s current total capacity.”
According to him, the uniqueness of the Egina FPSO project is that it is a newly built spread moored FPSO with oil and gas processing and water treatment facilities and can store up to 2.3 million barrels of processed oil in its hull.
This year the nation’s crude oil and condensate production has ranged from between 1.7 million and 2 million bpd, a volume that is still far below its capacity of 2.2 million bpd. The shortfall has been due largely to pipeline vandalism in the Niger Delta region.
