Oando, Petrobras plan to acquire more oil blocks

PETROBRAS Nigeria and Oando Plc have declared their interest to participate in the next Nigeria oil blocks licensing rounds.The two companies made this known to The Guardian at the fifth Nigerian Independent Forum, held recently in Lagos.The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Oando Exploration & Production Limited, Pade Durotoye and Exploration Manager of Petrobras, Carlos Rodrigues said that they were only waiting for the Federal Government to embark on the next licensing rounds to acquire more oil blocks in Nigeria.In 2010, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, said that Nigeria was on the verge of putting its oil bocks on sale.She said that the licensing round expected to rake in $880 million into the federal treasury, going by the 2010 budget projections, would be held as soon as possible.About two billion barrels of oil reserves, including big and marginal fields, would be auctioned in the renewed bidding round.We will move very aggressively, because we have very little time in this dispensation. But we will make sure that it is done right and done transparently within the tenet of due process, the minister said, as she assured that she was already reviewing aspects of the industry.According to Petrobras, the company was already operating block OPL 315 with a total area of 1,006 km2 and water depths ranging from 1.0000 to 2.0000 metres.He said that the block was in the final phase of the first exploration period of five years and it had already purchased 853.5 km2 of 3D seismic.Agbami field is located between the blocks OML 127 and OML-128, which had undertaken a process of unitisation. The field was developed in conjunction with other partners: Chevron (operator), Statoil, Famfa and NNPC. The production started in this field.The Akpo field is located in Block OML 130. The oil field is lightweight and can be characterised as condensed. Our partners in this block are Total (Operator), Sapetro, CNOOC and NNPC, he said.Oando boss stated that Oando Exploration and Production Limited boosted the companys audacious steps in the upstream sector, with the acquisition of oil/gas oilfields during the oil bloc bidding rounds. According to him, Oando was the operator of two oil blocksOPL 278 and OPL 236. We are also a Nigerian Content Partner with AGIP Oil on OPL 282 and has a 45 per cent interest in a marginal field, OML 56. These fields are in different stages of development and will significantly increase Nigerias oil and gas reserves.
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