ExxonMobil Plans Up to 100 MMcf/d Gas Production from Owowo Field as Offshore Projects Near Investment Decision
ExxonMobil expects to produce significant volumes of natural gas from its planned development of the Owowo and Bosi offshore fields in Nigeria, both of which are still progressing toward final investment sanction.
According to Jagir Baxi, Lead Country Manager of ExxonMobil Nigeria and its affiliates, the Owowo development includes plans for a dedicated gas pipeline as part of its overall project design.
Should the project reach final investment decision (FID), ExxonMobil intends to transport produced gas to shore for processing and domestic supply.
Baxi noted that the Owowo field is expected to deliver up to 100 million cubic feet of gas per day (MMcf/d), adding that it contains more gas resources than the company’s Usan or Erha fields.
He said monetising this gas is central to ExxonMobil’s development strategy for the asset.
He further explained that the Bosi field represents a more complex development, combining large-scale oil and gas production.
Compared to Owowo, Bosi remains at an earlier stage of planning and will require significantly greater infrastructure investment, including integrated gas handling systems from the outset.
Baxi shared the update during an interview with journalists in Lagos, where he discussed ExxonMobil’s broader upstream strategy in Nigeria.
While recent attention has focused on the potential redevelopment of the Usan field, he emphasized that Owowo is also a key component of the company’s future growth portfolio.
ExxonMobil discovered the Owowo field in 2016 in water depths of approximately 600 metres.
The company initially planned to begin development drilling around 2020, but regulatory changes following the 2019 Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contract Amendment Act prompted a reassessment of the project’s commercial framework.
As a result, development timelines were delayed as partners reviewed investment viability.
Nearly a decade after its discovery, the Owowo project is now moving closer to a potential development phase.
Baxi also noted that Owowo is expected to be developed as a subsea tie-back rather than requiring a new floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) facility. The field is expected to be connected to existing infrastructure, with ExxonMobil indicating that the Usan FPSO has sufficient capacity and remains technically suitable for supporting production from Owowo.
Once sanctioned, the projects are expected to contribute to Nigeria’s gas development goals while supporting ExxonMobil’s long-term offshore production strategy in the region.
