Currently Africa's deepwater assets contain some of the richest discoveries, and the highest success rates, anywhere in the world with the region already accounting for 11% of total oil production and Nigeria, being the world's seventh largest producer.
Total's Amenam oilfield, currently producing 50,000bopd, is expected to reach full production capacity of 125,000bopd by early next year. Shell's $700 million Bonga production and storage vessel should build up to 220,000 bpd during 2004 after arriving in Nigeria later this year.
The first exports from Chad's $3.7 billion World Bank-backed oil pipeline to ports in Cameroon have also been realised.
At 1075km in length the pipeline flows from landlocked Chad to the Atlantic ports of Cameroon and represents the World Bank's largest-ever investment in sub-Saharan Africa.
Chad and Cameroon originally signed a treaty for the construction of the pipeline in 1996 with construction beginning in 2000, and now the first 950,000 barrels have left the Cameroon port of Kribi for world markets.
The project included development of 300 wells in the Doba oilfield in southern Chad, which is estimated to hold reserves of more than 900 million barrels.
ChevronTexaco itself declared two new significant deepwater oil discoveries offshore Nigeria earlier this week.
The wildcat Nsiko-1 well, in Oil Prospecting License (OPL) 249, which was drilled to a total depth of 13,968 feet and in 5,674 feet of water, discovered a substantial amount of net hydrocarbon pay in multiple zones. One zone was tested in the well and flowed at 6,500 barrels of high quality crude per day under restricted flow conditions.
The well was abandoned upon completion of testing operations. Appraisal drilling on the Nsiko discovery is planned for the first half of 2004.
In addition, the Aparo 3 appraisal well confirmed the extension of the Aparo oil field onto OPL 249. The well, drilled in 4,270 feet of water to a total depth of 12,000 feet, encountered a substantial amount of net oil sand.
Global oil demand is expected to grow to about 150 million bopd by 2010 from 120 million bopd today and with output from current fields falling at between four and five percent a year, half of global production in 2010 will have to be sourced through undeveloped and undiscovered fields.
With significant investment from international majors and the support of the World Bank African nations are well positioned to capture a substantial share of this market.
