TotalEnergies on Wednesday said the commencement of production from its 50,000 barrels per day Ikike field would help Nigeria to bridge its oil production gap which had declined in recent times to 1.3 million barrels per day.

According to the Managing Director, TotalEnergies Exploration and Production Nigeria, Mr Mike Sangster, that is the type of project Nigeria needs now to meet its Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) quota.

Speaking in Lagos at the 2022 Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Nigeria Annual International Conference and Exhibition (NAICE), Sangster who was represented by the Deputy Managing Director, Deepwater, TotalEnergies E&P Nigeria, Mr Victor Bandele, Sangster said the field would add 50,000 barrels per day to Nigeria’s oil production.

Located 20 kilometers off the coast, at a depth of about 20 meters, the Ikike platform is tied back to the existing Amenam offshore facilities through a 14km multiphase pipeline, the Ikike project is a Joint Venture between TotalEnergies (40 per cent) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd. (60 per cent).

He said: “That kind of the project first is low capex, which is what Nigeria needs now. It is high profit, which is what Nigeria needs now and it’s helping to bridge the gap that we have caused by ourselves. Today, our Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) quota is 1.8 million barrels, we are producing less than 1.3 million. So, what for me is success is that we don’t waste the capacity that we should have as a country.

“When we are supposed to be producing 1.8 million, we should do more than that and be able to take benefits of what we have today.”

Sangster called for more collaboration among operators in the sector to optimise cost and improve efficiency in their operations.

He said there was a need for the industry stakeholders to work with the government in addressing the current security challenges such as pipeline vandalism and oil theft that was affecting the sector.