Eland Oil & Gas finalized its export option for the Opuama field in Nigeria; the crude will be exported by ships. Production from the field has restarted into the main storage vessel and the shuttle vessel will shortly arrive on site with transport of the crude commencing thereafter, Africa Petroleum reported. Eland said it expected to have the shipping in place by January.

The Opuama field was producing around 4,400 b/d at the end of 2015, but, more recently, the field has not been producing due to interruptions to third party export facilities, Morning Star informed.

The Opuama-3 is currently the only well on production, which produces a gross volume of around 10,000 b/d, yet the system has the capacity to handle greater quantities of production as other wells are brought online.

George Maxwell, CEO of Eland said: “The diversification of our export routes has been a key priority for the company to ensure we are protected in the event of further disruption to our onshore export route. I am delighted that we have finalized the process for the shipping of our crude and that production from Opuama has recommenced.”