Adewale Sanyaolu
Total has commenced oil production at its Egina field located in around 1,600 meters of water depths, 150 kilometers off the coast of Nigeria. The Egina field will produce 200,000 barrels of oil per day, which represents about 10 per cent of Nigeria’s production.
The Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) unit used to develop the giant Egina field is the largest one Total has ever built. The project has also involved a record level of local contractors. Six of the eighteen modules on the FPSO were built and integrated locally, and 77 per cent of hours spent on the project were worked locally.
Startup has been achieved close to 10 per cent below the initial budget, which represents more than $1 billion of CAPEX savings, due in particular to excellent drilling performance where the drilling time per well has been reduced by 30 per cent.
“Total is proud to deliver a project of this size under the initial budget and to contribute to the development of Nigeria’s oil and gas sector by generating employment as well as building industrial capability.
“Egina will significantly boost the group’s production and cash flow from 2019 onwards, and benefit from our strong cost-reduction efforts in Nigeria where we have reduced our operating costs by 40 per cent over the last four years,” stated Arnaud Breuillac, President, Exploration & Production. “Furthermore, some upside potential nearby remains to be developed and we are studying in particular Preowei discovery tie-back to the Egina FPSO.”
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In January 2017, the $16 billion Egina FPSO vessel sailed into the country. The vessel, which left the shores of South Korea enroute Nigeria in October 2017 has a Length Over All (LOA) of 330 metres, width of 63 metres and a gross tonnage of 219,800 tonnes, is adjudged to be the largest FPSO vessel to have berthed on Nigerian waters.
Upon arrival, Samsung Heavy Industries Nigeria (SHIN) completed the integration of six locally fabricated topside modules at the SHI-MCI Yard in Ladol Island, Lagos, over a six month period. Upon completion of the integration of the six locally fabricated topside modules, the FPSO will begin its final sail-away to the Egina field.
The Egina project is a testimony to the fact that large deepwater projects can be developed with a very high level of in-country activities, thus fulfilling the aspirations and objectives of the Federal Government in terms of employment generation, capacity building and industrial capability development
Being the first project to be launched after the enactment of the Nigerian Oil & Gas Industry Content Development Act in 2010, EGINA is advancing Nigerian Content to record levels and has by far the highest quantum of local content completed for any oil & gas project in Nigeria, and also for Total’s projects worldwide,’’.