The Managing Director, Total E&P, Mr. Mike Sangster, has said the company had made significant progress with the development of $500 million Ikike Oil Field project and would record first oil before the end of 2021
Sangster stated this when he visited the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Engr. Simbi Kesiye Wabote in his office in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
He noted that though it had been difficult developing the project, particularly with the pandemic, but that the oil firm making progress.
The project was kicked-off in November last year, after five months of its approval by the board of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
The Ikike oil field is part of the OML 99 Licence in the Total/NNPC joint venture and it is estimated to hold 70 million barrels of crude oil
The Total MD had remarked earlier that the company had operated in Nigeria for 60 years and is the only IOC that operates in the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors of the Nigerian oil and gas industry.
He indicated that the company developed the last three Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) platforms in Nigeria and Egina created new records, one of which is recording 40 million manhours in-country.
Sangster also reported that the company had made significant progress with the development of the Ikike Oil Field and would record first oil before the end of 2021. He admitted that “it had been difficult developing the project, particularly with the pandemic, but we are making progress and we
Sangster appreciated the support from the NCDMB on the project.
Commenting on the PIB, which underwent public hearing in the National Assembly in January, the OPTS leader advised federal legislators and policy makers to ensure that the fiscal provisions in the law are fair to key stakeholders, so as to stimulate new investments in the industry.
Wabote commended the MD for his emergence as the chairman of the Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS)- the umbrella body of major oil producers, adding that his appointment was deserving because Total E&P was the only international operating company that had taken Final Investment Decisions and sanctioned major oil and gas projects in recent times in Nigeria despite the delayed PIB.
While expressing confidence in the determination of the 9th National Assembly to pass the PIB after it had been delayed for over 15 years, Wabote encouraged other IOCs to forge ahead with their new projects. He hinted that new projects were needed to grow Local Content and create work opportunities for local fabrication and manufacturing yards, many of which have been idle since the conclusion of the Total’s Egina deep water project in 2018.
