Following a meeting between Eni's CEO and Nigeria's President, the company has solidified its expansion plans in Nigeria's deepwater sector, primarily through the resolution of a long-standing license issue.

Resolution of OPL 245 and New Licenses

A key development is the conversion of Oil Prospecting Licence 245 (OPL 245) into new licenses. This conversion was achieved through a mutually agreed settlement with the Federal Government of Nigeria, which involved resolving claims and discontinuing arbitration at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). The OPL 245 area has been transformed into two Petroleum Mining Leases (PML 102 and 103) and two Petroleum Prospecting Leases (PPL 2011 and 2012). The licenses will be operated by Nigerian Agip Exploration Limited in partnership with Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) and Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCO).

Development of the Etan-Zabazaba Project

The conversion of OPL 245 specifically enables the development of the Zabazaba and Etan deepwater fields under the new PML 102 and 103. This project, known as Etan-Zabazaba, holds estimated reserves of approximately 500 million barrels of oil. The development plan centers on a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) facility with a capacity of 150,000 barrels of oil per day. At peak production, associated gas volumes of up to 200 million standard cubic feet per day are expected to be exported to the Nigeria LNG facility.

Eni's Broader Nigerian Portfolio and Position

Eni's discussions also covered its wider offshore interests in Nigeria, which include stakes in the Abo and Bonga fields as well as Nigeria LNG. The company recently strengthened its deepwater position by increasing its stake in OML 118 to 15%. Eni, which has been operating in Nigeria since 1962, currently produces approximately 55,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day on an equity basis from the country's deepwater sector.