TotalEnergies begins production from Nigerian offshore oil field

French oil and energy company TotalEnergies and its partner have started production from the Ikike field in production licence 99 (OML 99) in Nigeria.

The field is expected to reach a peak production capacity of 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) by the end of this year.

TotalEnergies operates the OML99 licence with a 40% stake while the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) owns the remaining 60% interest.

Located 20km off the coast and at a water depth of approximately 20m, the Ikike platform is tied back through a 14km multiphase pipeline to the existing Amenam offshore facilities.

TotalEnergies said that the project makes use of existing facilities to reduce costs. It is also designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

TotalEnergies Africa exploration and production senior vice-president Henri-Max Ndong-Nzue said: “TotalEnergies is pleased to start production at Ikike, which was launched a few months before the Covid pandemic, and whose success owes a lot to the full mobilisation of the teams. By tapping discoveries close to existing facilities, this project fits the company’s strategy of focusing on low-cost and low-emission oil projects.”

TotalEnergies has been present in Nigeria for more than 60 years and currently employs more than 1,800 people across different business segments.

In 2021, TotalEnergies reported production rates of 240,000boepd.

The firm also operates a distribution network including approximately 540 service stations in the West African country.

In May 2022, Reuters reported that TotalEnergies was looking to sell its 10% stake in the Nigerian joint venture (JV) Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC).

Other JV partners in SPDC include Shell (30%), the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) (55%), and Nigerian Agip Oil Company limited (NAOC), a unit of Italy’s Eni, which owns a 5% stake.

SPDC operates over 6,000km of pipelines and flowlines, 87 flowstations, eight gas plants, and over 1,000 producing wells.

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