Italy’s Eni Makes 1-Tcf Gas Find Onshore Nigeria

Italian oil and gas firm,  Eni has announced that it had made a “significant” gas and condensate find onshore Nigeria, with reserves estimated at 1 Tcf (28 Bcm) of gas and 60 million barrels of condensate, as part of its near-field onshore drilling campaign in the Niger Delta.

Eni’s affiliate company NAOC which holds a 20% operating stake alongside state-owned NNPC (60%) and Oando (20%) — made the find in the deeper sequences of the Obiafu-Obrikom fields with the Obiafu-41 deep well.

The well — which can deliver in excess of 100 MMcf/d of gas and 3,000 b/d of condensate — will be “immediately” put on stream to increase NAOC’s gas production, Eni said.

“The discovery is part of a drilling campaign planned by NAOC and aimed at exploring near-field and deep pool opportunities as ‘immediate time to market’ opportunities,” it said.

The find also has further potential that will be assessed with the next appraisal campaign, Eni said.

Eni’s equity gas production in Nigeria last year was some 92 Bcf (2.6 Bcm), according to the company’s website, or around 5% of the country’s total gas output.

Nigeria — which has the largest gas reserves in Africa — has made it a priority to unlock and harness its gas potential to increase domestic and industrial power supply.

According to NNPC, Nigeria has around 202 Tcf of proven gas reserves — a number that was increased from around 187 Tcf late last year — plus about 600 Tcf of unproven gas reserves.

But despite having the largest gas reserves in Africa, only about 25% of those reserves are being produced or are under development, according to Shell.