The Awoba field, a joint venture between the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) and Newcross Exploration and Production Ltd (NEPL) has resumed production after it shut down in February 2022 due to evacuation challenges and crude oil theft.
In a statement on Tuesday, Chief Corporate Communications Officer, of NNPC Ltd, Olufemi Soneye, said that since the restart of the Awoba field by NNPC Ltd and its partners on April 13, 2024; production from the field has averaged 8,000 barrels per day and is expected to plateau at 12,000 per day at full ramp-up within 30 days.
He added that Awoba is also expected to significantly boost gas supply to the power sector and other gas-based industries.
Soneye said: “The Awoba Unit which straddles OMLs 18 and 24 is located in the mangrove swamp south of Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Both OML 18 and OML 24 assets are under the management of the NNPC Upstream Investment Management Services (NUIMS).
“NNPC Ltd. has been recording a string of production successes from the JV portfolio which have significantly lifted overall national production. Besides the recent start of production at the Madu Field by the NNPC Ltd/First E&P JV, the company has achieved the restart of production at OMLs 29 and OML 18 in late 2023 which have steadily contributed an average of 60,000bpd to the nation’s production output since their restart.”
The Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Ltd., Mallam Mele Kyari, attributed this achievement to the enabling operating environment provided by the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, expressing appreciation for the support.
He expressed appreciation to all stakeholders (staff, operators, host communities, government security agencies, and private security contractors) who played a pivotal role in achieving the feat.