Erin Energy has completed the drilling of the Oyo North West (Oyo-NW) well off Nigeria and, based on preliminary evaluation, it has discovered hydrocarbons in the Miocene Formation.
The Oyo-NW well is located approximately 9.5 kilometers northwest of the Oyo Central field on the company’s offshore Nigeria block 120. Erin Energy started drilling the well using the Pacific Bora drillship in December 2017.
According to Erin’s statement on Wednesday, the Miocene formation is where several of Erin Energy’s neighbors have discovered billions of barrels of hydrocarbons and from which several hundred thousand barrels per day are produced offshore Nigeria.
The company is currently completing well-suspension activities so it can re-enter the well in the future for possible production.
Namely, the close proximity of the Oyo-NW well to the company’s current floating production and offloading facilities located on the producing Oyo field means that the company may 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.
“These results are very encouraging and support our technical team’s evaluation of the prospectivity of the Miocene and have significantly de-risked the other major Miocene prospects in blocks 120 and 121,” stated Femi Ayoade , Chief Executive Officer.
“We will move quickly to appraise the discovery. The Miocene is the most prolific producing zone offshore Nigeria, and the presence of these hydrocarbons is a significant step forward in unleashing the value of the Miocene Formation in our blocks.”
The well was drilled to the proposed total vertical depth subsea (TVDSS) of 12,218 feet and penetrated multiple sand units with total gross thickness of 260 feet in the depth range from 7,052 – 10,873 feet TVDSS as interpreted from wireline log data.
Preliminary evaluation of the well data shows that the two main sand units, the Miocene U7.0 and U8.0, with a gross thickness of approximately 83.6 feet are hydrocarbon-bearing. Work has started to estimate the discovered volumes and to determine the relevant appraisal and development program.