ExxonMobil looks to offshore Nigeria as Liberian field disappoints

American oil giant ExxonMobil will turn attention to offshore Nigeria in efforts to find hydrocarbons in a well offshore Liberia fails to deliver any hydrocarbons.

Recent drill tests carried out at the Mesurado-1 well which sits in the LB-13 Block offshore Liberia in association with Canadian Overseas Petroleum Limited (COPL) will be plugged and abandoned with no further logging operations conducted.

The, Mesurado-1 is located some 50 miles from the Liberian coast and is in 2,500 metres of water

“We are naturally disappointed by the lack of hydrocarbons in the targeted reservoir sands in the Mesurado-1 well,” said COPL chief executive Arthur Millholland.

Before this news, the target had been estimated to host 1.78bn to 4.2bn of gross prospective recoverable oil resources.

“The lack of hydrocarbons at this location where our seismic data presented attributes indicative of hydrocarbons will cause us to do additional work on the 3D seismic over the block, and re-evaluate the other leads we have mapped on LB-13,” Millholland said.

Hence ExxonMobil will begin appraisal drilling towards the end of 2017 in Nigeria raising hopes for investments in the upstream sector.

“This is clearly a setback for COPL, however the company is well diversified with an attractive oil appraisal and development project offshore Nigeria on OPL 226,” said Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Sam Wahab.

ISAAC ANYAOGU