Erin Energy has started drilling of the Oyo North West well (Oyo-NW) offshore Nigeria with plans to tie the potential discovery to the Oyo field facilities.
Oyo-NW is a high-impact exploration well being drilled with the Pacific Bora, a sixth-generation drilling rig, on the company’s offshore block 120. The well is expected to take approximately 60 days to drill and log, Erin Energy said in a statement on Wednesday.
“We are extremely pleased to have commenced drilling of the Oyo North West Prospect,” said Femi Ayoade , Chief Executive Officer. “Our team has worked hard to mature our extensive portfolio of prospects and we look forward to positive results from this campaign. A discovery in the Miocene formation would be a significant step forward in the evolution of our company.”
The Oyo-NW is one of Erin Energy’s multiple drill-ready Miocene prospects and will target mean resources of 1.1 billion barrels. According to Erin Energy, the blocks 120 and 121 are located near many of the region’s “super-fields” in the prolific-producing Niger Delta.
Miocene and Pliocene sandstone reservoirs are proven across the blocks and within the region, providing the reservoir with numerous large-fields and discoveries. Detailed mapping of Erin Energy’s prospect portfolio is based on interpretation of modern 3-D seismic data the company has acquired on the blocks.
Erin Energy also stated that upon a successful discovery, given the close proximity to its current floating production and offloading facilities located on the producing Oyo field, the company would plan to eventually complete the well as a producer with production tie-back to the Oyo field facilities.
The Oyo field is producing through the Bumi Armada-owned Armada Perdana FPSO.