Afren provides job creation template for Niger Delta
BY KENNETH EHIGIATOR
Afren Nigeria Plc has pledged to use its exploration at Obok field as a model for indigenous oil production in Nigeria, and also building effective partnership with local contractors and host communities in the Niger Delta, through job creation, to maximise its impact in the downstream sector of the nation’s oil industry.
The company also indicated that it had complete infill drilling in its Okoro field, with a view to increasing production; working to determine optimal development solution on its Okwok field, both in Nigeria; and studying its Keta oil block in Ghana to show the potential of Turonian interval to ensure increase in gross prospective resources to over 1.4 billion barrels.
Chairman of the company, Mr. Egbert Imomoh, who disclosed these in Lagos, said the company was exploring the Obok field in partnership with operators of the field, Oriental Energy Resources, stressing that the field was being used a s a model for indigenous production in Nigeria.
“Production at the Ebok project is a major milestone in our development as a Company and, alongside our partners at Oriental Energy Resources we see significant potential for production growth over time.
“We have worked hard to develop Ebok as a model for indigenous production in Nigeria, focusing extensively on relationships with indigenous contractors and communities to maximise the downstream impact we have.
“For example, the full operation and maintenance contract on the FPSO at the Ebok field has been awarded to Century Energy Services, a leading indigenous oil services company who are already providing similar services at the Okoro field and employing the majority of its staff from the Niger Delta,” he said.
On the company’s relationship with host communities, Imomoh said its relations department had been engaging with communities around the Ebok project for over 12 months, carrying out a needs-based assessment and implementing projects aligned to the findings, including educational scholarship programmes, provision of infrastructure for primary schools, and environmental protection projects.