ABERDEEN, Scotland, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- Scottish energy company Eland Oil & Gas said it started oil production from the Opuama oil field in Nigeria, said to contain 54 million barrels of oil.
Eland said it started production oil from Oil Mining Lease 40 within the inland Opuama field. Production was started using existing infrastructure and the company said it expected two wells in the region to produce an aggregate 2,500 barrels of oil per day.
The company said it estimated the Opuama field contains 54.2 million barrels of oil and produced crude oil is designated for an export pipeline with a capacity of 30,000 bpd.
Work by Eland and the Nigerian Petroleum Development Corp. accelerated last year to restart production from Opuama, which NPDC closed in 2006 as a result of infrastructure deterioration.
Eland Chief Executive Officer Les Blair said in a statement Wednesday the resumption of oil production from Opuama was a "hugely significant milestone" for his company.
"We look forward enthusiastically to the prospect of building on this pivotal turning point by materially increasing the daily production through the planned development drilling during 2014," he said.
