FHN projects first oil discovery in January

INDIGENOUS oil and gas company, First Hydrocarbon Nigeria (FHN) has projected to strike its first oil in January next year.The company is targeting 50,000 barrel of oil per day from its acquired 45 per cent interest in Oil Mining Licence (OML) 26 come January 2013.Chief Operating Officer, First Hydrocarbon Nigeria, Femi Bajomo stated this at the maiden Akindelano Legal Practitioners (ALP)'s Seminar series in Lagos at the weekend that the management team of FHN was working assiduously to ensure that the set date for first oil discovery comes on-stream.'From the OML 26 that we acquired, we are finalising acquisition of one opportunity with a owner of marginal field and we are targeting January 2013 for first oil,' Bajomo said.According to him, FHN was partly owned by oil company Afren, adding that it had bought a 45 per cent stake in Nigerian oil block OML 26 for $147.5 million from Shell, Total and Eni.He said that the block bought by FHN was one of five acreages oil assets that Shell had up for sale, adding that it owned 30 per cent in the leases, Total has 10 per cent and Eni five per cent while the remaining 55 per cent were owned by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).The block, which sits on the vast Niger Delta wetlands region, has certified recoverable reserves and contingent resources of 184 million barrels (mmbbls) at producing fields, and an estimated 144 (mmbbls) at undeveloped fields with gross prospective resources estimated at 615 mmbbls.He noted that the block was acquired through the input of two local banks- FCMB Plc and Stanbic IBTC Plc that helped to secure credit facility to FHN.'The support demonstrated by our Nigerian financing partners is a clear endorsement of the growing indigenous Exploration and Production industry in Nigeria,' Bajomo said.He, however, said that the management was in discussion with the Securities and Exchange Commission to list the shares of FHN on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.According to him, this would give other Nigerians the opportunity to buy into the company and become existing shareholders.Bajomo said that the shares would be floated as Initial Public Offer (IPO) to the Nigerian public.Speaking on the theme: 'Building an Indigenous Upstream Sector,' Managing Partner, Oluyele Delano said that the upstream sector was a strategic sector where any local oil and gas company aiming to invest there must have both equity and debt finance to grow capacity in the petroleum industry.
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