As global oil prices continue to stablise, leading oil companies in Nigeria such as Total and other IOCs are intensifying their exploration activities as part of efforts aimed at taking advantage of the favourable market.
Global oil benchmark, Brent, is currently trading at $79 per barrel in the international market.
A research finding by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources has it that international oil companies such as Total, Shell and others have gone into active exploration and production in land, swamp, offshore and the deep offshore.
This development follows years of slowed activity in the Nigerian oil sector due to lulled global demand and decreased prices. Oil prices went as low as $40 per barrel in 2015.
The oil companies are deploying about 25 rigs in different locations
According to the report by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Total Nigeria Plc is currently making use of Seadrill’s West Jupiter for its deep water exploration activities. For its offshore activities, Total is also using Baltic 1 and Frigg, which belongs to Shelf Drilling and Borr Drilling.
ExxonMobile is also using Trident 14 which also belongs to Shelf Drilling for all its offshore exploration activities.
In the same vein, Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC) has hired OES Integrity for its offshore drilling services. The drilling service is owned by OES Energy Services Limited and is located in the Niger-Delta.
Chevron Nigeria Limited has also deployed two rigs namely OES Respect and Resourceful, both of which are owned by OES Energy Services Limited. The rigs are for offshore and onshore explorations at Sonam and Dibi respectively.
The company is also making use of ODEL’s Ensco-DS4 for its deep water exploration activities at Agbami.
Yet another company that is positioning to take advantage of the stablised global oil prices is AMNI International Petroleum Development Company. AMNI International has hired Adriatic 1 which belongs to Shelf Drilling. The rig will be used for the company’s offshore activities at Okoro in the Niger-Delta.
Other oil companies who have deployed rigs in different locations are:
- Conoil
- SEEPCO
- Niger-Delta Petroleum Resources Limited, etc.
Recall that global oil prices have maintained a positive trend throughout most of the year, increasing to $74.35 per barrel in April. A number of global events played key roles in influencing the continued spike in oil prices, including instability in some parts of the Middle East, the uncertainty that hovered around nuclear negotiations between the USA and major oil exporter, Iran, Trump’s infamous angry Twitter rant against Russia’s relationship with Syria, as well as America’s eventual pull out from the Iran nuclear negotiation and re-imposition of sanctions on the OPEC member.
Global oil prices are projected to remain favourable
Global crude oil prices are expected to remain favourable for a long time to come. This is despite slight fluctuations that have been experienced since Brent Crude traded at $80 per barrel in May 2018.
Therefore, with this in view, and also bearing in mind the investments that have been made by the oil companies, it is safe to say that they are in for good times.