Chevron has announced its intention to increase exploration acreage in Nigeria and Angola, aiming to boost production after years of decline in both countries.
The company announced plans to expand its exploration acreage in African oil-producing countries, including Nigeria and Angola, where it sees opportunities for production growth despite years of decline, this was disclosed by Liz Schwarze in an interview with Bloomberg.
The company pledged to increase its exploration efforts, anticipating a rebound in production in both countries after years of decline.
Schwarze emphasised that the company is dedicated to ramping up its operations in regions where oil production has dwindled over recent years. West Africa is “such a hydrocarbon rich part of the world and relatively under-explored compared to other jurisdictions,” said Schwarze, while some peers are heading for the exit, Chevron is adding multiple blocks.
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, Schwarze said.
In addition to its efforts in Nigeria, Chevron has also acquired two deep-water licences in Equatorial Guinea, another country experiencing a decline in production. “The proof is in the action,” Schwarze said in an interview with Bloomberg in Cape Town.
Chevron has commenced drilling a well in Egypt this month and plans to initiate an exploration campaign in Namibia by December. In Angola, following a drop in crude production that led the country to exit OPEC last year, the company has secured deepwater blocks 49 and 50.
Chevron’s recent oil discovery in the Niger Delta, known as the “Meji NW-1 well” within Petroleum Mining Lease 49, could yield up to 17,000 barrels per day. The find, described as a “near-field find,” was announced in a statement from the company last month.
Amid the exit of multinational companies from onshore operations, President Bola Tinubu has outlined an ambitious target to raise Nigeria’s crude oil production to 4 million barrels per day by 2030.
Initially, Nigeria aims to increase its oil production by 1 million barrels per day within the next two years, despite multinational companies like ENI, AGIP, Shell, and Exxon Mobil divesting their onshore oil and gas assets in the country.
Nigeria’s crude oil production is currently around 1.35 million barrels per day, excluding condensate, which is lower than the country’s OPEC allocation of 1.58 million barrels per day.
This is as frontier exploration remains an important aspect of Chevron’s search for resources on the continent, Schwarze added.
