Eland Oil & Gas has secured regulatory approval from the Nigerian Department of Petroleum Resources for the Gbetiokun field development plan (FDP).
Located in the southeast of Oil Mining Lease 40 (OML 40), the field was discovered in 1987 following which three appraisal wells were drilled in 1990 and 1991.
The FDP involves drilling of an additional five oil production wells during phase one development of the field. The work will be followed by the drilling of a further six oil production wells and a single workover well during phase two.
Upon completion of remediation works on the swamp drilling unit ‘OES Teamwork’, the company has now spudded the Gbetiokun-4 well.
The Gbetiokun-4 well is planned to be completed as a dual string producer on the E3000 and E5000 reservoirs, with an estimated initial production capacity between 3,000 barrels of oil per day (boe/d) and 5,000boe/d.
Eland CEO George Maxwell said: “We are delighted to have received regulatory approval for the Gbetiokun Field Development Plan from the Department of Petroleum Resources. The approval enables us to progress with our phased development programme of the Gbetiokun field.
“Moreover, we are pleased to have resumed drilling on the Gbetiokun field after the successful remedial work on the OES Teamwork rig. We look forward to updating our shareholders on drilling progress in the near future.”
First phase of Gbetiokun development will focus on production from deep reservoirs
The first development phase of the Gbetiokun field will focus on addressing production from the deep reservoirs while providing additional appraisal information on the shallow reservoirs whereas Phase 2 will cover production from the shallow reservoirs.
Covering an area of 498km², the OML 40 prospect lies onshore within the Niger Delta. It is approximately 65km north-west from the city of Warri.
In 2018, Eland Oil & Gas announced that its joint-venture subsidiary Elcrest Exploration and Production Nigeria completed the Opuama-10 well located in OML 40.
