Afren Starts Okoro East Development

Afren has begun development drilling on the Okoro East Field, following the discovery in January 2012. Following the successful Okoro East well (Okoro-13) and subsequent well-test results in the Q1 2012, Afren and partner Amni International Petroleum Development have commenced early development drilling at the field. The Okoro-14 development well is being drilled from the existing Okoro main field wellhead platform (WHP) with the intention of establishing initial production from Okoro East via the existing Okoro FPSO.

The Okoro-14 well is targeting a Tertiary-aged reservoir within a new play that has been established in a deeper buried horst block structure. Oil quality at Okoro East is 38° to 40° API, and Pmean STOIIP 157 million barrels with upside to 329 million barrels.

Prior to spudding the Okoro-14 development well, Afren and Amni side-tracked the existing Okoro-5 production well on the Okoro main field. As part of the partners’ ongoing reservoir management and production optimization work, the objective of the side-track well was to access additional oil volumes in a previously un-swept area of the reservoir within the Okoro main field area. The Okoro-5 well was re-entered and side-tracked at a measured depth of 4,481 ft, and the side-track subsequently drilled to a total measured depth of 9,800 ft. The side-track successfully encountered oil pay in the target reservoir, in line with prognosis, and a 2,500 ft lateral drainage section within this pay zone has been bought onstream at a stabilized rate of 2,000 bopd.

Osman Shahenshah, chief executive of Afren, commented: “I am particularly delighted that we have started early development drilling at the Okoro East field, six months after the initial discovery. The Afren team has a demonstrable fast-track development capability and we are now creating tangible value and volume growth from our exploration campaign. Using existing infrastructure we expect an exceptional economic return from the early development wells. Furthermore, the completion and commissioning of the side-track well is a further example of how we are successfully optimizing production and maximizing economic oil recovery at the core Okoro main field development which we first bought onstream in 2008.”