OML 74 & 77 (HA)

OMLs 74 and 77 are two large shallow water licences in the eastern part of the Niger Delta and are part of the NNPC/Shell Joint Venture. There are eight undeveloped oil and gas discoveries on the block. Although the operator completed development plans for OML 74 and 77 (also known as H-Block and J-Block respectively), Final Investment Decision (FID) has not been taken. Despite the reserves potential of OMLs 74 and 77, the fields have remained undeveloped. A major barrier has been NNPC's funding constraints, which has severely limited spend on upstream developments, particularly greenfield offshore projects. With Shell shifting focus to deepwater and LNG, greenfield conventional projects like OMLs 74 and 77 are not priority. As a result, we have downgraded the assets to non-commercial. We believe that if a licence renewal is secured, then Shell may opt to divest the blocks.