Nigeria: ExxonMobil discovers one billion barrel oil field

ExxonMobil says it has made a “significant discovery” of oil off the coast of Nigeria. The oil find is located at the Owowo offshore field located in the southern Bayelsa State.

According to the US oil giant, the capacity of the recent find was between 500 million and 1 billion barrels of crude oil.

The Owowo-3 well was drilled by ExxonMobil affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Deepwater Ventures) Limited. It has a height of 10,410 feet (3,173 meters) and in water at 1,890 feet (576 meters).

#JustAnnounced an oil discovery of between 500M & 1B barrels offshore Nigeria. Find out more here https://t.co/62MrA9iGTf

— ExxonMobil (@exxonmobil) October 27, 2016

“We are encouraged by the results and will work with our partners and the government on future development plans,” said Stephen M. Greenlee, president of ExxonMobil Exploration Company.

The company’s statement noted that there were five partners with interest in the current oil find.

‘‘ExxonMobil holds 27 percent interest and is the operator for OPL 223 and OML 139. Joint venture partners include Chevron Nigeria Deepwater G Limited (27 percent interest), Total E&P Nigeria Limited (18 percent interest), Nexen Petroleum Deepwater Nigeria Limited (18 percent interest), and the Nigeria Petroleum Development Company Limited (10 percent interest),’‘ it said.

Lagos based research firm, SBM Intelligence risk analyst estimates that ExxonMobil, Dutch-British Shell and Chevron lost $7.1 billion in the first half of 2016, some 70 percent of earnings through militant attacks, low oil prices and weak refinery margins.

Nigeria’s oil rich south has been grappling with two issues – militancy and pollution. Rebels have carried out attacks on oil installations in the region. The government recently flagged off the clean up of the Ogoniland, which was badly polluted by the activities of locals and multinational companies in the field.