French oil and energy company TotalEnergies has begun production from the Ikike field in Nigeria, which is expected to deliver peak production of 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day by the end of 2022, it said on Monday.

The field production would supply the much-needed boost for Nigeria which has faced operational problems in its upstream oil and gas sector.

TotalEnergies-which operates the field with a 40 per cent stake alongside the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, Limited (NNPC) with 60 per cent said, it expects Ikike to deliver 50,000 b/d of oil equivalent (boe/d) by the end of the year.

The field is tied back to the Amenam offshore facilities through a 14km pipeline. “By tapping discoveries close to existing facilities, this project fits the company’s strategy of focusing on low-cost and low-emission oil projects,” said senior vice-president of TotalEnergies’ upstream operations in Africa, Henri-Max Ndong-Nzue.

The start of production from Ikike will help Nigeria lift its flagging crude output, which slumped to a 17-month low of 1.26 million barrels a day in June which is 510,000 b/d below its OPEC target for the month, according to Argus estimates.