By Gift Eguavoen
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and its Joint Venture partner in the Awoba Unit Field, Newcross Exploration and Production Ltd, have restarted production from the Awoba field which last contributed production to the Bonny Terminal in 2021 and was finally shut down in February 2022 due to evacuation issues and crude oil theft.
The development, according to the partners, is part of efforts to optimise production from the nation’s hydrocarbon assets to boost revenues and meet the nation’s OPEC production quota.
Since the restart of the Awoba field by NNPCL and its partners on April 13, 2024; production from the field has averaged 8,000 barrels per day and is expected to plateau at 12,000 per day at full ramp up within 30 days, the NNPCL said in a statement by its Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye.
Extractive360 reports that Awoba is also expected to significantly boost gas supply to the power sector and other gas-based industries.
The Awoba Unit which straddles OMLs 18 and 24 is located in the mangrove swamp south of Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Both OML 18 and OML 24 assets are under the management of the NNPC Upstream Investment Management Services (NUIMS).
The NNPCL said it has been recording a string of production successes from the JV portfolio which have significantly lifted overall national production. “Besides the recent start of production at the Madu Field by the NNPC Ltd/First E&P JV, the company has achieved the restart of production at OMLs 29 and OML 18 in late 2023 which have steadily contributed an average of 60,000bpd to the nation’s production output since their restart,” the Company said in the statement.
Speaking on the development, NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Mele Kyari, ascribed the achievement to the President Bola Tinubu administration’s success in providing enabling operating environment for businesses to thrive.
Kyari expressed appreciation to all stakeholders, including staff, operators, host communities, government security agencies, and private security contractors, who played a pivotal role in achieving the feat.