TotalEnergies, a major international oil company (IOC) operating in Nigeria’s upstream industry, has announced that it discovered oil and gas in commercial quantity in the Ntokon offshore field of its oil mining licence (OML) 102 in the country.
The OML is an operational conventional oil field located in Nigeria’s shallow waters in which TotalEnergies holds a 40% stake while the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) owns the remaining 60%.
The company in a statement on Tuesday confirming the hydrocarbon resources findings in the oil field, explained that the Ntokon discovery well, situated 60 kilometers off the South-East coast of Nigeria, has encountered 38 million net oil pay (thickness with units of length) and 15 million net gas pay (thickness with units of length).
According to the company, the reservoirs in which the discovery was made are well-developed and of excellent quality.
Speaking on the discovery, TotalEnergies Exploration and Production (E&P) President, Nicolas Terraz, said: “The Ntokon discovery opens a promising outlook for new tie-back development. After the start-up of production of the Ikike tie-back on OML 99 in 2022, this new success in the area further demonstrates the potential of nearby exploration to create value within our low-cost, low-emission strategy.”
Similarly, the company’s Deputy Managing Director then, Victor Bamidele, spoke about the company’s diversified portfolio in Nigeria’s upstream sector with facilities spanning onshore, deep waters, and liquefied natural gas and contributing about 15% of the country’s production.
Experts in the hydrocarbon resources industry believe that the latest discovery of hydrocarbon resources in commercial quantity in Ntokon offshore field of its oil mining licence (OML) 102 will boost Nigeria’s crude oil production, which for the past few years has been low due to insecurity and vandalism of crude oil assets in the Niger Delta region, crude oil theft and under-investment in the upstream sector.
It would be recalled that in 2021, TotalEnergies said it had invested over $60 billion in oil and gas exploration in Nigeria.
