Sirius and partners get go ahead for Ororo

UK independent Sirius Petroleum’s local partner has received government approval for the drilling of an appraisal well in the shallow-water Ororo field offshore Nigeria, the company said in a statement on Tuesday. The six-month permit was granted to Lagos-based Guarantee Petroleum by the Department of Petroleum Resources and applies to the Ororo-2A prospect.

The project’s partners, which include Lagos-based Owena Oil & Gas, are expected to drill around 200 metres from an undeveloped discovery made by Chevron in 1986. The well will target the same sands currently producing at fields adjacent to Ororo.

The government sign-off signals the marginal field licence is likely to be renewed and paves the way for productive operations. The move puts first oil on track to flow in late 2015 or early 2016 at an expected initial rate of around 2,600 barrels of oil per day.

The Ororo field is located in oil mining licence 95 offshore Ondo State, and is estimated to contain between 35.5 million and 44.1 million barrels of oil in place, in addition to 7.84 bcm-11 bcm (277 bcf-390 bcf) of recoverable gas.

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