Eland receives FDP approval for Gbetiokun field development in Nigeria

Eland Oil & Gas has secured regulatory approval of its Gbetiokun field development plan (FDP) from the Nigerian Department of Petroleum Resources.

Discovered in 1987, the field is located in the south-east of the OML 40 licence in Nigeria.

Covering an area of 498km², the OML 40 prospect lies onshore within the Niger Delta. It is approximately 65km north-west from the city of Warri.

The FDP provided details on the drilling of an additional five oil production wells during phase one development of the field, followed by the drilling of a further six oil production wells and a single workover well during phase two.

Following the completion of remediation works on the swamp drilling unit ‘OES Teamwork’, the company also announced the spudding of the Gbetiokun-4 well.

Eland plans to complete the Gbetiokun-4 well as a dual string producer on the E3000 and E5000 reservoirs, with an estimated initial production capacity between 3,000 barrels of oil per day (boe/d) and 5,000boe/d.

Eland Oil & Gas CEO George Maxwell said: “We are delighted to have received regulatory approval for the Gbetiokun Field Development Plan from the Department of Petroleum Resources. The approval enables us to progress with our phased development programme of the Gbetiokun field.

“Moreover, we are pleased to have resumed drilling on the Gbetiokun field after the successful remedial work on the OES Teamwork rig. We look forward to updating our shareholders on drilling progress in the near future.”

In October 2017, the company’s joint-venture subsidiary Elcrest Exploration and Production Nigeria completed sidetrack drilling at Opuama-7 in Nigeria. The sidetrack well, drilled in the company’s OML 40 licence, hit a total of 77ft of net oil pay.