Eni to fast-track Nigerian deepwater development

As Oil Prospecting Licence 245 (OPL 245) undergoes conversion, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and Eni's chief executive officer, Claudio Descalzi, met in Abuja to explore how the development can advance the Nigerian deepwater sectors

A significant feature of the agreement is the discontinuation of the international arbitration proceeding at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), thus allowing the conversion of the existing license into two development licences, Petroleum Mining Leases (PML) 102 and 103, and two exploration licences, Petroleum Prospecting Leases (PPL) 2011 and 2012, to Nigerian Agip Exploration Limited (NAE) as operator, alongside its partners Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) and Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCO). 

The agreement will considerably push Nigeria's deepwater development with Eni set to apply its know-how on the Zabazaba and Etan fields for optimal output. An extensive programme has been devised to generate approximately 500 MMbbl of reserves from the fields, including the deployment of a 150 kbopd capacity FPSO processing facility, while gas (200 MMSCFD at peak) will be exported through Nigeria LNG. The highly potential PPL 2011 and PPL 2012 exploration licenses will also be developed in line with the Zabazaba and Etan fields for a well-synced operational and production output from all facilities involved.

President Tinubu and Mr Descalzi also discussed Eni’s significant investment portfolio — including the Abo and Bonga fields and Nigeria LNG — as well as on potential new developments designed to expand the country’s offshore production capacity. Within this framework, and in line with its long-term strategy in the country, Eni has recently expanded its interests in deep-water developments, with the acquisition of an additional stake in OML 118, now holding 15%.