Chevron to expand oil exploration in Nigeria

Chevron, a multinational energy firm, has announced plans to expand its oil exploration acreage in Nigeria, Angola, and other African oil producers. 

In an interview with Bloomberg, Liz Schwarze, vice-president of global exploration at Chevron, said West Africa is abundant in hydrocarbons and remains under-explored compared to other regions globally.

“West Africa is such a hydrocarbon rich part of the world and relatively under-explored compared to other jurisdictions. The proof is in the action,” Schwarze said.

“In Nigeria, where oil production has slipped about half a million barrels a day over the last five years, Chevron acquired a stake in a new exploration block and made a separate discovery last month.”

The vice-president said Chevron has also secured two deep-water licences in Equatorial Guinea, another African nation experiencing production decline.

“The biggest crude producers on the continent have fallen far below their peak production levels as oil majors have focused their investments elsewhere, or departed countries completely after decades of operations,” she said.

“Frontier exploration remains an important aspect of Chevron’s search for resources on the continent.”

On October 18, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited-Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) joint venture (NNPC-CNL JV) said it made a near-field discovery with the successful drilling of the Meji NW-1 well in petroleum mining lease (PML) 49.

The PML 49 is located within the shallow offshore area of the western Niger Delta and was recently converted to the PIA 2021 terms.

In a statement, the company said the discovery supports Chevron’s broader global exploration strategy, which focuses on identifying new resources that extend the life of producing assets and enable faster development and production.