Elf Petroleum Nigeria Limited (EPNL), a subsidiary of TOTAL, says it has encountered hydrocarbon resources in Usan field discovery in its deep water Oil Prospecting License (OPL) 222.

NNPC is concessionaire for OPL 222 under a production sharing contract, while EPNL is the operator with 20 per cent holding in partnership with Chevron's 30 per cent.

Esso Exploration has 30 per cent and Nexen Petroleum Nigeria Ltd. has 20 per cent. TOTAL said in a statement that the well would produce 5,800 barrels of oil or more per day under a restricted flow conditions. The well confirms high potential for crude oil, the statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) stated.

The well was drilled at around 110 kilometres offshore in water depths of approximately 850 metres.

It is the fifth successful appraisal well on the Usan field discovered in 2002. TOTAL is the fourth largest oil and gas company in the world with operations in more than 130 countries. Its activities cover the whole energy chain of the petroleum industry from exploration, oil and gas production, refining and marketing, trading and power generation. The group is also a major player in chemicals with more than 110,000 employees worldwide.

Nigeria