Singaporean player completes resource appraisal for oilfield redevelopment offshore Benin

Singapore’s Rex International Holding Limited has disclosed the results of an independent qualified person’s report (QPR) for its oilfield off the coast of Benin.

Rex explains that an independent summary QPR for the Sèmè field in Block 1, Republic of Benin, has been prepared by Exceed Torridon Limited as part of the company’s obligations to disclose its reserves and resources. 

As indicated in the report, gross field resources attributable to the license include 11.4 million stock tank barrels of oil (MMstb) in low 1P reserves, 10.9 MMstb in base 2P, and 13.6 MMstb in high 3P reserves.

According to the Singaporean firm, the field has demonstrated good productivity. The plan is to initially redevelop it using a phased approach. Phase 1 in mid-2025 includes drilling one vertical exploration and appraisal well to test several reservoirs, which will then be used as a vertical producer.

Afterward, a second, horizontal well will be drilled to exploit the previously produced H6 reservoir. The plan is to conclude Phase 1 in 2026 by drilling two horizontal wells. The production system to be used comprises a drilling platform, a mobile offshore production unit (MOPU), and a floating storage and offtake (FSO) unit for storage.

The QPR focuses on Phase 1 of asset development and does not include resource estimates for Phase 2 of the field development plan (FDP). The latter is expected to focus on prospects in the deeper H7 and H8 reservoirs with potential three oil wells (H7) and two gas wells (H8), which have not been producing, but flow-to-surface tests have been performed. 

As disclosed in June, Rex plans to merge its stakes in licenses offshore Norway and Africa, held through Lime Petroleum and Porto Novo Resources (PNR) under a single entity. This will enable the Singaporean player to increase its effective interest in PNR, whose affiliate Akrake Petroleum is the operator of the Benin field, from 67.9% to 83.74%.

The merger is expected to be finalized by October 2024, however, the QPR has been prepared on the assumption that this has already happened. 

In 2022, Canada’s Zenith showed interest in the Sèmè field, calling it “the largest and most prospective oilfield in the country.” However, after winning a three-month exclusivity period to negotiate and finalize terms of a production sharing contract (PSC) for Block 1 in early 2023, the firm ended up retracting its offer later that year.

Shortly afterward, Akrake Petroleum signed a production-sharing contract (PSC) for operatorship and a working interest in the field. Discovered by Union Oil in 1969, the Sèmè field was first developed by Norway’s Saga Petroleum, producing approximately 22 MMbbl between 1982 and 1998, before production was stopped due to low oil prices in the late 1990s.