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 Brazil's state-controlled oil multinational Petrobras started production of oil in Agbami field, in Nigeria. Production is managed by a Floating Production, Storage and Offloading vessel (FPSO). Petrobras has 13% participation in the field, exploring in partnership with the Norwegian Statoil and the American Chevron, which operates the field.
Nigerian companies Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and Famfa Oil Limited are also partners in the field, as the concession holders.
According to Petrobras, the FPSO platform vessel that operates in blocks OML-127/128 is the largest floating vessel in the world for this finality and has a capacity for production of 250,000 barrels of oil a day. The average depth of water at the site is 1,400 meters (4,600 feet).
Agbami field should produce around 100,000 barrels of light oil, "of the best quality" and, therefore, of greater commercial value. In a recent interview, the general manager at the Petrobras Business Unit in Nigeria, Rudy Ferreira, informed that next year production in the field should reach 250,000 barrels a day.
Present in Nigeria since 1998, when the Agbami field was discovered, Petrobras invested around US$ 2.2 billion in the African country to start exploration works and develop production in the fields it operates in.
Rudy Ferreira said that at Agbami alone the Brazilian state-owned company should have the right to around 37,000 barrels of oil a day. He informed that Petrobras has participation in another two fields in Nigeria: Akpo and Engina.
"In Akpo field, the oil should start flowing early next year. Production is estimated at 185,000 barrels a day, of which 37,000 should be for Petrobras," he said at the occasion.
In 2009, when these two fields start operating, extraction should reach around 435,000 barrels a day, of which 70,000 barrels a day are the part belonging to the Brazilian company.
The Petrobras Business Plan for the period from 2008 to 2012 forecasts additional investment of US$ 1.4 billion in Nigeria. "Production, starting in 2009 and over the next five years, should be 25 million barrels a year, a peak that may remain for some time due to the start of production of Engina field, in 2013. With it, we hope to extend this 25 million barrel peak for another eight years," he said.
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