Eland joint venture signs rig contract with OES

Nigeria-focussed oil and gas production company Eland Oil & Gas announced on Tuesday that its joint venture company, Elcrest Exploration and Production Nigeria, signed a rig contract with OES Energy Services for the OES Teamwork Rig for the upcoming sidetrack of Opuama-7.

The AIM-traded firm said the side-tracking of the existing Opuama-7 well was expected to contribute an initial production rates of 5,900 barrels of oil per day gross, increasing near-term overall production from OML 40 to around an expected 17,500 bopd gross.

It said the OES Teamwork swamp rig was currently undergoing “meticulous preparation”, which included mobilising rig personnel, system tests and equipment shakedown, to target the commencement of the rig move to the Opuama-7 location in July.

The rig would drill a sidetrack to around 7,500 feet, expected to take in the region of a month to complete.

As part of the contract's terms, Elcrest had the option to extend the contract for the re-entry of Gbetiokun-1, which it intended to start immediately after Opuama-7 sidetrack.

“Following the successful completion of our oversubscribed placing last week, I am delighted to announce the signing of a rig contract with OES to accelerate the commencement of our workover programme, starting with the sidetrack drilling of Opuama-7,” said Elcrest CEO George Maxwell.

“We are committed to developing OML 40 to its full potential and have immediately started to deploy the additional funds recently raised.”

Maxwell said the board continued to target production from OP-7 and Gb-1 in H2 2017, targeting total gross production from OML 40 of 25,400 bopd and net production of 11,430 bopd.

“This is double our current levels of production and should bring significant value to all our stakeholders.”