Chevron Corporation announces that its Nigerian affiliate, Star Deep Water Petroleum Ltd, has commenced crude oil production from the Agbami Field, located offshore Nigeria.

First oil from the Agbami Field was achieved on July 29, 2008, from a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel. Initial production from the Agbami Field is expected to be more than 100,000 barrels per day and is projected to increase to 250,000 barrels of crude oil and natural gas liquids per day by the end of 2009. The Agbami field, discovered in 1998, is the largest deepwater discovery in Nigeria and is estimated to hold potentially recoverable volumes of 900 million barrels. Chevron is the operator and has a 68.2 percent interest under the unit agreement.

"Chevron and our partners have reached an exciting milestone for a major project 10 years in the making. Production from Agbami will now bring new energy supplies to the world market and help provide long term, sustainable returns to our shareholders," said Ali Moshiri, president of Chevron Africa and Latin America Exploration and Production. "Agbami is a world-class project, and I’m particularly proud that Agbami represents the industry’s largest ever support of Nigerian content."

Fred Nelson, Managing Director of Chevron Nigeria/Mid-Africa Strategic Business Unit, added: "We congratulate our partners – the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Famfa Oil Limited, Petrobras and Statoil – for this remarkable achievement. We also thank the Nigerian government and our partners for their strong support, which has led to the delivery of outstanding results."

"We value the contributions made by the project team, contractors and suppliers who have made the start-up a reality. Chevron and its partners have now delivered a major oil project that will help to ensure a new source of global energy supply and also provide new jobs and economic growth to Nigeria. The Agbami project sets a new benchmark for Nigerian local content, including the largest module ever fabricated in Nigeria."

(Oil Voice)