30th Jun 2009 09:00
Afren plc (AFR LN)
Capital Markets Day - Ebok Development
London, 30 June 2009 - Afren plc ("Afren" or the "Company"), announces that the Company is this morning hosting a Capital Markets Day on the Ebok development.
Key highlights
A copy of the presentation is available at www.afren.com.
Background
The Ebok field (Afren 40% legal interest) is located 50km offshore South East Nigeria in 135ft of water. The field is adjacent to producing fields operated by the ExxonMobil / NNPC joint venture, where current gross output is in the region of 850,000 bopd. Ebok's productive reservoirs are contained within the Pliocene Agbada Formation, which are the main intervals from which the vast majority of Nigeria's oil and gas is produced.
Appraisal drilling
The Afren-Oriental operated Ebok-4 appraisal well confirmed a material 53 mmbo (2P) oil development. The well encountered a total gross oil column of 284ft in high quality reservoir sands ranging in depth from 2,560ft to 3,718ft. Of these gross pay intervals, 274ft is calculated as net oil pay.
Afren has identified a further 99 mmbo of recoverable upside potential at Ebok, 45 mmbo of which lies within the Qua Iboe sands. Consequently, Afren is today announcing that the unrisked potential of the field has since risen to 152 mmbo.
Field development planning and current project status
Afren has set out a clear timeline for the development of the Ebok field to delivering first oil in early 2010, and beyond. To date, significant progress has been made across multiple aspects of the field development planning.
Field development (Phase 1a and 1b) will commence with the drilling of six horizontal production wells and one water injection well, and is set to deliver first oil in early 2010 at an initial rate of 15,000 bopd, increasing to 35,000 bopd at end 2010. Two appraisal wells will also be drilled to prove the identified upside of the D2 Southern Lobe and West Fault Block locations.
With Phase 1 well planning defined, Afren is close to commitments on a drilling rig and requisite production facilities. A shortlist of drilling units has been compiled with seven rigs having been identified as fit for purpose, five of which are immediately available.
Several proposals have also been evaluated to date for FPSO's, MOPU's and FSO's. A development configuration deploying a MOPU and FSO is considered to be the most appropriate solution. EHSS regulatory compliance process is also well underway.
A second multi phased development targeting the upside to total potential field size of 152 mmbo, will be undertaken through to 2012.
Osman Shahenshah, Chief Executive, commented:
"Afren has made significant progress on the Ebok development, since reaching an agreement in March 2008 with our partner Oriental Energy Resources and the ExxonMobil / NNPC joint venture.
Following the recent appraisal success, where Afren proved up a 2P reserve base of 53 mmbo, our continued subsurface studies and interpretation work post-appraisal drilling has identified substantially greater upside than previously announced, most notably an additional 45 mmbo recoverable potential from the Qua Iboe sands. We now see upside of 99 mmbo, and therefore the potential to ultimately deliver a 152 mmbo field development, in what is one of Nigeria's most prolific oil producing areas.
We remain firmly on-track with our development planning for Ebok, to deliver first oil in early 2010. Having completed well planning work for the first drilling phase, we are close to commitments for a drilling rig and production facilities. Ebok reinforces the platform from which Afren and its partners can deliver similar indigenous growth opportunities in the region."
-Ends-
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Enquiries: |
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Afren plc |
+44 20 7451 9700 |
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Osman Shahenshah |
Chief Executive |
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Galib Virani |
Investor Relations |
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Pelham Public Relations |
+44 20 7337 1500 |
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James Henderson |
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Mark Antelme |
Background information
Afren plc
Afren plc (www.afren.com) was founded in 2004 with the vision to become the premier pan-African independent exploration and production Company, through a differentiated strategy based on a strong African representation in the Board and management, partnering with indigenous companies, partnering with National Oil Companies and Governments as well as finding a solution to the vast untapped gas reserves in the Gulf of Guinea. Since the Company's listing on the AIM market in 2005, Afren has rapidly expanded its portfolio to 16 assets across 6 African countries with over 26,000 boepd net WI production and a material reserves base of 86 mmboe.
Note
In accordance with the AIM Rules, the technical information in this release has been reviewed and signed off by Mr Iain Wright, who is Director of Technical at Afren Plc and has over 25 years relevant experience within the sector. He consents to the information in the form and context in which it appears. The Company estimates its reserves in accordance with the guidelines and definitions of the Society of Petroleum Engineers / World Petroleum Congress ("SPE/WPC") reserves classification (March 1997) using accepted engineering principles.
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