Erin Energy has announced that it has discovered hydrocarbons in a Miocene formation located near the Oyo Central field located off the coast of Nigeria
Drilling of the Oyo-NW well has been completed and the announcement was made on the basis of a preliminary evaluation. The well is located approximetely 9.5km north-west of the Oyo Central field on Erin Energy's Nigeria block 120. The block is part of a promising offshore neighbourhood where other operators have found billions of barrels of hydrocarbons and from which several hundred thousand barrels per day are being produced.
Now the company is completing well-suspension activities so it can re-enter the well with a view to future production. Estimation of the volumes is underway and a relevant appraisal and development programme needs to be determined. The well was drilled to a vertical depth of 12,218 feer and multiple sand units were penetrated. The early well data shows that the two main sand units, Miocene U7.0 and U8.0, with a gross thickness of 83.6 feet are hydrocarbon-bearing.
Femi Ayoade, Ceo of Erin Energy, described the results as "very encouraging".
"We will move quickly to appraise the discovery," Mr Ayoade said. "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.
