Nexen Announces First Oil at Usan

Nexen Inc. (TSX, NYSE: NXY) announced yesterday that first oil has been produced from the Usan field, offshore West Africa. The Usan floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, of which Nexen has a 20% working interest, has a production capacity of 180,000 barrels per day (bbls/d).

“Bringing the first production well on stream at Usan is a major milestone for Nexen as the project is expected to deliver significant cash flow and long term value to our company,” said Kevin Reinhart, Interim President and Chief Executive Officer. “We continue to deliver on our 2012 strategic priorities with oil flow commencing at Usan.”

Production from Usan, net to Nexen, is expected to be in the range of 14,000 to 28,000 bbls/d in 2012, and will be dependent on several factors including the rate of ramp-up, the pace of well additions and well performance.

Nexen’s co-venturers on Usan are Total E&P Nigeria Limited (the operator with a 20% interest), Chevron Petroleum Nigeria Limited (30%) and Esso E&P Nigeria (Offshore East) Limited (30%).

“Usan offers a strong platform for future growth as we have several follow-up prospects,” said Reinhart. “Now that first oil has been achieved, we’ll focus on ramping-up production and identifying new development opportunities through exploration and appraisal drilling in the region.”

The Usan development is located about 100 km southeast of the Nigerian coast on Block OML138. With storage capacity of up to two million barrels of oil, the Usan FPSO unit is one of the largest in the world.