16-06-09 As part of the drive to re-position itself for post-reform challenges, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), the exploration and production arm of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has discovered crude oil from its Oil Mining Lease (OML) 64, otherwise known as Kukaku-1 well, situated in Delta State.
Confirming this development last night, Group Public Affairs Manager of NNPC, Dr Levi Ajuonuma, said in a statement that the well was drilled to a total depth of 11,150 feet and encountered six major hydrocarbon intervals, three out of which are bearing oil with a net thickness of about 50 feet.

He said the initial test on the well indicates that the oil is similar to most oil discovered in Nigeria, which is sweet light crude. According to him, production from the well ranges between 1,284 to 3,110 bpd and zero water content.
He said: "The discovery will undoubtedly add to the company's oil and gas portfolio after the final assessment and evaluation of the reservoir. A field development plan will soon be drawn-up to appraise the field, after which production would commence. The NPDC currently produces between 50,000 to 70,000 barrels of crude oil per day and has put in place measures to raise the production level to about 150,000 bpd by the turn of the decade."

Ajuonuma also confirmed that the federal government recently transferred five oil blocks from Mobil and Chevron to NPDC in a bid to jerk-up the production capacity of the company. He also disclosed that the NPDC and SPEC, a subsidiary company of China Petroleum Corporation jointly developed the OML 64 which covers an area of about 278 sq km based on a strategic alliance entered into in 2004 to develop the field.
In apparent response to the Oil and Gas Sector Implementation Committee (OGIC)'s recommendation for the NNPC to be a commercially driven entity, exploring for oil in the country and beyond, the corporation had intensified exploratory activities both in the Niger Delta and the Lake Chad Basin , a project abandoned some years back.

This was in line with calls by the northern leaders on NNPC to begin oil exploration in the Lake Chad Basin and the Benue Trough for the socio-economic development of the North and the entire country in general.
Ajuonuma said the move was in line with the OGIC report, stressing that the implementation of the report would see NNPC working fully as a commercial entity, prospecting fully for oil and gas in Nigeria and beyond.