OPL 233 is an offshore oil concession block with a license area of 126km2. The block is located in the eastern Niger Delta basin and immediately off the Nigerian coast in water depth of less than 30 ft.
The block is adjacent to both the giant Chevron operated Apoi-Funiwa field in OML 86 (estimated to have discovered 600 mmboe and is one of the largest discovered shallow water fields in Nigeria) and the Ango-1 discovery which was drilled by Conoil in OML 59 in 2012.
In addition, the block is close to key evacuation infrastructure such as a gas pipeline, which passes through the block to the Escravos terminal and the Middleton export terminal that is nearby.
The block was awarded to NIGDEL in 2006 as part of a Mini Bid Round. NIGDEL, EER and SacOil have since entered into contracts that assign 20% of Transcorp’s Participating Interest (PI) in the Production Sharing Contract (“PSC”) for the block to EER. In August 2014, assignment of 20% PI in OPL 233 was approved by Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (“NNPC”).
The Olobia-1 well, located within OPL 233, was drilled in 1986 by Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria. The AGR TRACS interpretation of the Olobia-1 well log report in the OPL 233 CPR indicates 50.5ft of gas pay and 106.5ft of oil pay across 5 reservoir zones in the well.
AGR TRACS has issued a Competent Persons Report (CPR) estimating a gross 2C unrisked contingent resources of 19 MMboe (P50). This implies net 2C unrisked contingent resources to EER of 1.65 mmboe (net entitlement post royalties and tax). TRACS believes the P50 volume would support a development with peak production of up to 14,335 boepd.
A significant portion of the block has 2D seismic survey undertaken on it and consequently there are limited resources currently attributable to the block. The OPL 233 Partners believe that the acquisition of 3D Ocean Bottom Cable (OBC) seismic data will significantly increase the 2C unrisked contingent resources and add prospective resources ahead of drilling further wells on the block.
The OPL 233 partners have commenced acquisition of 3D Ocean Bottom Cable (OBC) seismic data over the block to evaluate the acreage. Processing of the 3D will allow preparation of an inventory of exploration prospects and high grade them to drillable status. The new 3D OBC data will also assist in the preparation of delineation appraisal drilling of the Olobia discovery.
