Lekoil, an oil and gas company focusing on operations in West Africa, has said that it is closing in on commercial production at Otakikpo field in Nigeria.

The field development plan for Otakikpo, located on the shoreline in the south-eastern part of the Niger Delta, consists of two phases: Phase 1 comprises the recompletions of two wells, Otakikpo-002 and Otakikpo-003 with the installation of an Early Production Facility of 6,000 bopd capacity and export via shuttle tanker. Phase 2 covers the subsequent incremental development of the rest of the field with a new Central Processing Facility and seven new wells expected to come on stream during 2017.

Phase 2 covers the subsequent incremental development of the rest of the field with a new Central Processing Facility and seven new wells expected to come on stream during 2017.

According to the operational update on Monday, Otakikpo-002 well has been completed, evacuation facilities are nearing completion and the drilling rig has been mobilized to Otakikpo-003.

The company on Monday said it was nearing commercial production and first cargoes were expected to be lifted in Q3 2016.

“The Company is targeting production of 10,000 bopd by year-end 2016 and will then proceed to phase two of the Otakikpo Field Development Plan, with new wells planned to bring aggregate production to a target of 20,000 bopd by the end of 2017, subject to requisite approvals,” Lekoil said.