NNPC, Total to launch Egina crude in September

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and French energy giant, Total will launch the Egina crude at the Asia Pacific Petroleum Conference (APPEC) holding in Singapore between September 24 and 26.

Singapore’s APPEC, is one of Asia’s biggest annual petroleum industry gatherings, during which producers, refiners and merchants sign and renew supply deals and exchange information according to Reuters.

At the conference, Reuters reports that Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil giant Aramco will team up with South Korean refiner S-Oil Corp for a joint reception as part of its drive to expand its footprint in he downstream sector.

The Egina oil field is located 150km off the coast of Nigeria. The field is being developed by Total Upstream Nigeria (24%) in partnership with CNOOC (45%), Sapetro (15%) and Petrobras (16%). Egina is the third deep offshore development of Total in Nigeria.

A $3.3 billion floating production storage offloading (FPSO) vessel was constructed for the Egina deepwater oilfield and it left for the oilfield in Rivers state on August 26 where production is expected to begin in December this year.

Located some 130 kilometers off the coast of Nigeria at water depths of more than 1,500 meters, the Egina oil field is one of the most ambitious ultra-deep offshore projects. When it comes on stream it will produce 200,000 barrels of oil per day, which represents 10% of Nigeria’s total oil production.

The five wells on Egina field encountered between 60m and 80m of oil in Miocene sands. The oil reserves are estimated at 550 million barrels. The light oil is rated at 28° API and will also compete for market share in an oil market where new grades are constantly emerging.