On 27 August 2019, Italian operator Eni SpA through its Nigerian subsidiary Nigeria Agip Oil Company Ltd (NAOC) reported that it made a significant gas and condensate discovery in the Obiafu SW Deep 4 exploratory well (also known as Obiafu 41 Deep), onshore OML 61. The company reached a total drilled depth of 4,374 m, encountering 130 m of high-quality hydrocarbon-bearing Oligocene deltaic sands. NAOC estimates the find to hold about 1 Tcf of gas and 60 MMbbl of associated condensate, which could be produced soon using the existing infrastructure, at a rate of 100 MMcf/d of gas and 3,000 b/d of condensate.  NAOC reached the drilling depth of 4,000 m in late May 2019 and no progress was made in June, while NAOC had set a planned TD for Obiafu SW Deep 4 around 4,600 m, targeting deeper gas horizons. The well was spudded on 15 March 2019 as a sidetrack from the existing Obiafu 41 development well. The company used the HP/HT âHilong-27â land rig that Shell (SPDC) yet mobilized in 1H 2018 to drill a similar high-impact well in nearby OML 28. NAOC has selected several similar projects in its onshore acreage.  The onshore Obiafu-Obrikom field was discovered in 1967 and came on-stream in 1973. It had initially recoverable 2P reserves of 340 MMbbl of oil of which 75% has already been produced to date. Participants in OML 61 are Eni (NAOC) 20% operator, Oando Energy Resources (OER) 20% and NNPC 60%.
Obiafu 41 deep well (NAOC 100% = Eni 20% op. NNPC 60%, Nigerian independent 20%) in OML61 block, hit more than 130m of high quality hydrocarbon-bearing sands. âThe find amounts to about 1 Tcf of gas and 60 MMb of associated condensate in the deep drilled, Oligocene sequences,â Eni said. According to the operator, the well can deliver in excess of 100 MMscf/d of gas and 3000 b/d of associated condensates, on stream immediately. TD=4374m. 