Nigerian firm strikes Nigerian oil

An Nigerian oil firm has found crude oil in the country's sector of the Benin Basin. "The discovery is located in OPL 309 offshore Lagos named Aje-1 with potential for production capacity of 5,500 barrels per day of crude," Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum Co told. Man. dir. Folawiyo said his company, a joint venture partnership with Liberty Technical Services, would soon commence drilling of a second well. It is an 18-month programme which is expected to lead to production start-up. Total cost will be around $75 million. The Nigerian government awarded some acreages in the Niger Delta basin to wealthy local businessmen in 1991 in a bid to have more indigenous participation in the upstream sector of the oil industry, the country's economic backbone. The nation's 2 mmbpd crude oil output now is almost entirely from joint venture partnerships with multinational oil firms.