THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Nigerian Oil Conference To Focus On Deepwater Activities: “Most of the planned increase in production is expected to come from deepwater operations, where new fields are scheduled to commence production from this year. These include Bonga Field, operated by Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, a unit of Royal Dutch Shell” (ShellNews.net) Posted 15 Feb 05
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
LAGOS -- Nigeria plans to showcase the country's deepwater development and production activities at the forthcoming Offshore West Africa Conference and Exhibition scheduled to be held in Abuja March 21-23, the planning committee for the conference says.
The theme of the conference is "Expanding Frontiers", while the theme for Nigeria's participation is "A Focus on the Gulf of Guinea."
Nigeria also plans to convene a chief executive officers' forum, to serve as a platform for industry operators to exchange ideas, Ajuonuma said in a statement.
Levi Ajuonuma, chairman of the planning committee, said the conference aims to expose local oil industry professionals to the latest technologies in deep offshore exploration and production, and also attract new investors.
The Nigerian government plans to raise the country's production capacity to 4 million barrels a day by 2007, up from about 2.4 million b/d now.
Most of the planned increase in production is expected to come from deepwater operations, where new fields are scheduled to commence production from this year.
These include Bonga Field, operated by Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, a unit of Royal Dutch Shell (RD, SC), Erha, operated by ExxonMobil (XON), and Agbami, Operated by ChevronTexaco Nigeria, part of ChevronTexaco (CVX).
Already, some deep offshore blocks in Nigeria have started pumping. Among these are Amenam/Kpono, operated by Elf Petroleum Nigeria, a unit of Total SA (TOT), and Abo, operated by Nigerian Agip Oil Company, a unit of Eni SpA (E).
Nigeria plans to award oil blocks from its second licensing round by the end of July this year.
-By Vincent Nwanma, Dow Jones Newswires; 234-1-585-0849; vincent.nwanma@dowjones.com