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Weekly UpdatesWith Chevron estimating associated and free gas reserves in its 2.2m acre areas at 17 TCF, the $569m Phase-I of the Escravos gas gathering project (EGP-1) came on stream in late April 1997. This has put out three flares at Okan and Mefa, reducing the amount of flared gas by 40%. It has materialised after three decades of study, negotiations and arguments. Now Chevron's system includes offshore gathering and compression facilities, a gas pipeline to onshore power plants, and a floating LPG storage/offloading vessel which is the first of its kind in the world. About 150 MCF/d of associated gas is compressed and piped to an onshore fractionator on stream since 1998 near the Escravos terminal, where a pipeline reaches Lagos. The Escravos-Lagos pipeline, also used by Shell, has a capacity of 600 MCF/d.
The system's output consists of 7,000 b/d of LPG, 12,000 b/d of crude oil and condensate, and 130 MCF/d of methane. The LPG has been exported directly since July 1997. The condensate and crude oil are blended with the Escravos grades. The methane is bought by NNPC's Nigerian Gas Co. (NGC), which supplies it to power and industrial plants in Lagos. Chevron's system has spare capacity which could be used to reduce gas flaring at other nearby fields and to increase supplies to NGC.
Phase-2 of the EGP (EGP-2), which processes an additional 135 MCF/d of natural gas, began operations in late 2000. The gas is used domestically. Gas from EGP-2 is also sold to Benin, Togo and Ghana via the West African Gas Pipeline (see gmt7NigrGasExpAug17-09). Phase-3 (EGP-3) has raised gas processing to 400 MCF/d.
Chevron is a 20% partner in another Nigerian JV covering 600,000 acres, where Texaco (now part of Chevron) is the operator. It has PSCs and equity in deep-water blocks where its partners are Total and ExxonMobil. It is the biggest oil producer in Angola where it operates a big offshore venture, which was a Gulf Oil unit it bought in 1985.
Chevron's deep-water Agbami field, under a PSC, came online in 2008, with peak production set at 250,000 b/d of light/sweet crude oil. Its FPSO vessel, built by Daewoo, can handle up to 250,000 b/d of crude oil and 450 MCF/d of gas.
The majority of Agbami lies in Block 127, while one-third of it lies in the adjacent Block 128 where Statoil in 2004 got 18.85% in a unitised development of Agbami, which gives the Norwegian firm about 40,000 b/d of equity crude at the field's plateau level. Agbami was proven in Block 216 by Texaco in 1998. In 2000, Statoil's Ekoli-1 well confirmed the find extended into its Block 217. Development of the field was later unitised between these two blocks. Chevron is operator with 68.15%, while Petrobras holds the remaining 13%. Texaco Nigeria Outer Shelf (Chevron) has a stake in Statoil's adjacent OPL 218, where the Norwegian operator has found the big Nnwa gas field.
In early 2001 Chevron won OPL250 deep-water block, the most sought-after tract close to offshore acreage in which billions of barrels of oil have been found. Abuja gave the 10% share of Ocean Energy of Houston half to Shell and half to Petrobras. So the JV, which has a PSC with NNPC, now is held 50% by Chevron (operator), 35% by Shell and 15% by Petrobras. (Petrobras has considerable expertise in deep-water E&P gained from its Campos Basin operations in Brazil).
Among fields being developed by Chevron is North Siko, to be on stream in 2012 at the rate of 75,000 b/d. Chevron has interests in other major field developed by other IOCs, such as the 175,000 b/d Bonga South/Aparo (see Shell in OMT) and the 180,000 b/d Usan JVs (see Total below).
Texaco Operations: Texaco (Chevron) operates several fields, mostly offshore, grouped in the name of its first discovery in 1965, Pennington, which is also the name of its terminal and of its export blend.
Texaco's capacity is 60,000 b/d, down from 90,000 b/d in 1999. But its output during the week to Aug. 8 was estimated at 50,000 b/d, through its fields' 60,000 b/d capacity are expected to be sustainable for years to come. Pennington Blend is 38? API with 0.1% S.
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