Eni to Continue Operating FPSO Abo Offshore Nigeria
Nigerian Agip Exploration (NAE, a subsidiary of Italy’s Eni) has reached an agreement with BW Offshore to extend the lease of a floating oil and gas production, storage and offloading (FPSO) facility operating in a field off the Nigerian continental shelf.
This was reported by the press service of BW Offshore.
The contract extension will allow FPSO to operate in the Abo field until September 14, 2023. The previous contract extension expired on August 31, 2023.
The FPSO owner plans to put the vessel up for sale.
Block OML 125
- is one of 6 offshore oil blocks operated by NAE along with OML118, OML134, OML135, OML 151 and OPL 245;
- a production sharing agreement (PSA) with NNPC for the operation of OML125 and OML134 was signed by NAE in 1993;
- located 40 km from the coast of Nigeria;
- area – 1,983 km2;
- water depth in the subsoil area – from 550 to 1100 m;
- project partners:
– Agip is an operator with 85% stake,
– Oando Energy Resources – 15%; - the block covers 3 fields: Abo, Abo North and Okodo, tied to the Abo FPSO.
Abo field
- The field contains light sweet crude oil and natural gas
- Mining started in 2003.
NAE immediately set a record by becoming the 1st oil and gas company in Nigeria to produce oil from the country’s deep water shelf.
It is worth noting that NAE was originally created for the development of deep water deposits.
Eni uses another company, Agip Energy and Natural Resources (AENR), to operate in shallow water.
From 2006 to 2009, a field expansion project was carried out.
Peak production was in February 2010 – 37,300 barrels per day of oil.
As a result of 4D seismic surveys conducted in early 2011, in 2013 NAE began the 3rd phase of development of the Abo field, which further increased oil production and, in fact, extended the life of the field.
FPSO Abo
- has been operating at the Abo field since 2003;
- designed to process 44 kb/d of oil and about 48.4 Mcf/d of gas;
- storage capacity – 940 thousand barrels. oil.
BW Offshore is working to expand the niche oil and gas segment through the reallocation of existing FPSOs and the sale of non-core assets.
The company has already sold several FPSOs, including Sendje Berge, Espoir Ivoirien, BW Athena, BW Opportunity, Cidade de São Vicente and BW Joko Tole.
In addition, the FPSO operator expects the disposal of FPSO Petróleo Nautipa at the end of 2023.
The company also continues to make progress on the construction of the FPSO, which is intended to develop a gas field offshore Australia.
In addition, BW Offshore recently received a new $200m 3.5 year loan refinancing an existing principal secured facility for another FPSO operating in the UK North Sea sector.
