FG Approves Lagos’ Ownership Of 4 Oil Wells, Disproves 1 Other

The Federal Government on Wednesday says four of the five oil wells discovered in Lagos truly belongs to the state but disproves the state’s ownership of one other oil well.

The FG said the disproved oil well fell beyond 200 metres isobaths and did not legitimately belong to Lagos State.

A delegation of the Indices and Disbursement Committee, Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, led by its Chairman, Alhaji Aliyu Mohammed visited Governor Akinwunmi Ambode on Wednesday at the State House, Ikeja, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria for the purpose of verifying crude oil and gas production from Aje Oil wells for the purpose of disbursement of 13%
derivation fund to the state in line with the constitution of Nigeria.
According to Mohammed, as part of procedure and in pursuant to its constitutional mandate, the commission set up an Inter-Agency Technical Committee which comprised the commission, the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, Office of the Surveyor General of the Federation and the National Boundary Commission to determine the location of the Aje oil wells.

“The technical committee recommended that for the purpose of derivation as spelt out under Section 162 (2) of the 1999 constitution (as amended) as well as the provision of the Allocation of Revenue Act 2004, Aje oil wells 1, 2, 4 and 5 fall within the 200m isobaths and therefore should be attributed to Lagos State.
“As a result, the commission and members of the Inter-Agency Committee had to embark on this working visit to conclude the process. Please, note that Aje 3 oil well falls beyond the 200m isobaths and therefore cannot be legitimately attributed to Lagos State,” he stated.

He added that the commencement of oil production from Aje oil field by Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum Company Limited was the first time oil was being produced outside the Niger Delta basin and therefore of a major significance in diversifying the source of crude oil and gas production in the country.

 

Speaking, Ambode described the visit as historic and one that would go down in the annals of the history of Lagos State, as the visit was the official step that would take Lagos to that final destination as an oil-producing state.

“We are very glad to receive this delegation. We also want to thank the Federal Government, most especially President Muhammadu Buhari for making this to happen very promptly. I want to say that this has been the promptest action that has been taken by RMAFC since I have known the Commission. I used to be a former Account General so I had a lot of transactions and relationship with the institution called RMAFC. Within a span of about 60 days of when we wrote our letter, and even before we wrote the letter, this technical committee was actually set up. It gladdens me to say that the institution works and is working for the good of Nigeria,” he said.
Also thanking the DPR and the boundary commission, Ambode said it was significant that the discovery of oil wells in Lagos was going to be the first time oil would be produced outside the Niger Delta.

“It’s significant for Nigeria, its significant for Lagos, it means that the whole path to diversification is what we are now witnessing. We would also encourage other states in terms of other mineral resources, not necessarily depend on crude oil; whatever it is that can actually allow states to start activating their mineral deposits, it would allow us expand the Internally Generated Revenue

.“It would also give us revenue dependence in a manner that there would be equal growth from all the nooks and crannies of Nigeria. One is happy that RMAFC has taken this step and also to say that they should also encourage other states to engage in such activities that would allow them to be able to activate whatever mineral deposit that we have in the various states in conjunction with the Federal Government, so that we can start to diversify revenue and growth and then create a balanced growth and development for the whole country,” he added.

Source: http://www.kevindjakporblog.com/2016/08/fg-approves-lagos-ownership-of-4-oil.html#ixzz4HbtZ1Ktc

Lagos To Join Oil Producing States In 2015

Lagos State is set to join the league of oil producing states in the country come next year as the joint venture partners on the Aje Field offshore Lagos have taken the final investment decision on the exploration of the field.

A group led by Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum Company Limited took the FID to develop the first phase of the Aje shallow water oil field for $220m.

The aim of the first phase is to produce 10,000 barrels per day of oil from two target wells in the Oil Mining Lease 113 area. A re-entry of Aje-4 will form the first producer, while drilling of Aje-5 is expected to be the second.

The plans include the use of Rubicon’s Front Puffin floating production, storage and offloading
vessel, which produced oil from the Puffin field in the Timor Sea. The vessel will be brought up to specification soon, while the procurement of subsea equipment and the contracting of a drilling rig are progressing.

The Aje field’s first stage is scheduled to be brought on stream at the end of 2015.

“We believe that this development is good for Nigeria generally because our reserves base has not increased over the years as expected, because the international oil companies are not ready to invest since the Petroleum Industry Bill has not been passed,” an elated Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Lagos State, Mr. Taofiq Tijani, told our correspondent.

Yinka Folawiyo is the operator with 25 per cent interest in the field. The partners are Vitol, 24.05 per cent; First Hydrocarbons Nigeria Limited, 16.875 per cent; Energy Equity Resources Limited, 16.875 per cent; Panoro Energy ASA, 12.19 per cent; and Jacka Resources Limited, five per cent.

The JV partners had in January 2014 submitted the Field Development Plan for the Aje field to the Department of Petroleum Resources. The FDP was approved in March and is primarily focused on the development of the Cenomanian oil reservoir.

The FDP envisages first oil commencing in late 2015 with mid-case reserves of 32.4 million barrels.

The first phase of development includes two subsea production wells tied back to a leased FPSO. These wells will most likely comprise the re-completion of the existing Aje-4 well and a new well drilled close to the Aje-2 subsurface location.

In addition, further potential on the block is being defined following the 3D seismic acquisition across both OPL 310 and OML 113.

Lagos State had last year established its oil and gas company following the passage of a bill that sought to establish the Ibile Oil and Gas Corporation.

The bill was to authorise the state government to invest and engage in oil and gas activities.