The U.S. energy giant ExxonMobil announced Wednesday that its production from an existing offshore oil project in Nigeria will increase daily oil output by 65,000 barrels.
ExxonMobil said in a statement that its subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited, has started oil production ahead of schedule at the Erha North Phase 2 project offshore Nigeria.
The deep water subsea development project, located 60 miles offshore Nigeria, includes seven wells from three drill centers, according to the company's statement.
The project will use the same equipment as the existing Erha oil field to reduce its infrastructure requirements, such as storage and offloading vessels.
Neil W. Duffin, president of ExxonMobil Development Company, said in the statement that optimizing existing infrastructure "reduces capital spending requirements and improves capital efficiency."
Due to low oil prices, most energy companies are trying to produce oil and gas more efficiently to decrease their expenditure and overall costs on their projects.
The Erha North Phase 2 is estimated to develop an additional 165 million barrels of oil from the Erha field, and is expected to increase the total production from Erha field to 90,000 barrels per day.
Duffin noted that the ahead-of-schedule startup was down to Nigerian contractors, which accounted for some $2 billion of project investment for goods and services, including subsea equipment, facilities and offshore installation.
Meanwhile, ExxonMobil said it projects to increase its global production volumes for 2015 by two percent to 4.1 million of oil-equivalent barrels per day.
The Erha North field was discovered in 2004 and initial production commenced in 2006. Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil, is the operator of the field and holds a 56.25 percent interest in Erha North Phase 2. Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company hold the remaining 43.75 percent share.
By Ovunc Kutlu
Anadolu Agency
ovunc.kutlu@aa.com.tr