OWN CORRESPONDENT, Lagos | Thursday 11.00am
US oil giant Texaco has struck oil off the coast of Nigeria with a find estimated at around one billion barrels, valued at $25-billion at current prices, the company confirmed Wednesday.
Texaco Overseas Oil Corporation and a Nigerian partner, FAMFA Oil, made the find in a deep-water offshore field called Abami II around Nigeria’s economic capital Lagos last Thursday, the company said in a statement.
“The successful conclusion of the well test sets the stage for development of a world-class project that will add substantially to the company’s resource base,” John Connor, head of Texaco’s worldwide exploration and production said.
Texaco first struck oil off the Nigerian coast in Abami I in 1997.
Nigeria is already one of the world’s largest oil producers but last year the government announced plans to expand production, if agreements are reached with the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
The Texaco find is one of the largest made off Nigeria.
Exploitation of Abami II may be delayed to ensure that Nigeria keeps to its current OPEC quota of just under two million barrels a day.
Seven major foreign oil companies operate in Nigeria: Anglo-Dutch group Shell, Agip of Italy, Total and Elf of France and Texaco, Chevron and Mobil of the United States. — AFP