LEKOIL delighted as oil from Otakikpo heads for quayside Share

LEKOIL Limited (LON:LEK) has started to move oil from its Otakikpo marginal field in Nigeria to onshore storage tanks to awaiting transport onto ships. That final part will depend on completion of a pipeline, which LEKOIL said was 80% done with all onshore facilities now signed off and commissioned. Operator Green Energy will start transporting to the export terminal and subsequently, be able to gradually ramp up production to 10,000 barrels per day (bopd) once the pipeline is complete. Lekan Akinyanmi, LEKOIL's chief executive, said he was delighted oil was now being moved and added it was a key milestone in the development of the field. Otakikpo is sited in a coastal swamp location in oil mining lease (OML) 11, adjacent to the shoreline in the south-eastern part of the Niger Delta. LEKOIL has a 36% economic interest, with the field to be developed in two stages. Phase 1 will see 10,000bpd exported via shuttle tankers while phase 2 involves construction of a new central processing facility.