Nigerian player sets sights on offshore production ramp-up, targeting 20+ wells in 2025

Nigeria’s oil and gas company Seplat Energy aims to drive transformation in Nigeria, partly by increasing offshore oil and gas production in 2025.

While speaking at an industry event in Nigeria, Chief Executive Officer of Seplat Energy, Roger Brown, shared his company remains committed to harnessing the “very vast” opportunities the country has to offer and driving transformation in Nigeria. Working with the government, the company says it aims to increase oil and gas production in the national interest.

Brown noted that the “enormous” gas resources in the company’s asset portfolio provide a big opportunity to boost Nigeria’s electricity generation and lead the country’s transformation and development.

After completing the acquisition of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPNU) from ExxonMobil in December 2024–and renaming it Seplat Energy Producing Nigeria Unlimited (SEPNU)–the Nigerian player claims to be one of the largest oil and gas producers in the country. 

The Nigerian firm announced its intention to buy ExxonMobil’s Nigerian business in November 2021 and confirmed it in February 2022. After the closing date was pushed back two times, first in May 2023 and then a year later, the deal received approval from the country’s Minister of Petroleum Resources in October 2024.

As stated by Seplat, MPNU’s portfolio includes a 40% operated interest in four offshore oil mining leases (OMLs): 67, 68, 70, and 104, a 9.6% non-operated interest in the Amenam-Kpono field, around 120 shallow water and offshore facilities, including around 200 producing wells, and 1,500 km pipelines. The infrastructure encompasses the Qua Iboe terminal, and the floating storage and offloading (FSO) unit Yoho, among others.

“With these asset acquisitions coming through, it is a new dawn for Nigeria and the Nigerian people. It is an opportunity to develop and transform Nigeria; and the Seplat Energy Group will be a very dominant player in this space,” added Seplat CEO. 

Commenting on the acquisition when disclosing the company’s 2024 annual results, Brown noted: “In the first few months since the acquisition, it has already become clear that there is significant prize in the offshore shallow water, operating a closed loop system from well-head production to hydrocarbon sales at the terminal.”

The company expects an increase in operating costs as it plans to increase investments in operations and maintenance (O&M) activities across offshore assets. This entails a focus on re-opening previously shut-in wells in SEPNU and accelerating the subsurface work and contracting needed to start an infill drilling campaign.

As disclosed, the plan is to contract two barges to operate across the offshore license area from early 2Q 2025, one for integrity works and the other working on idle wells, targeting more than 20 wells in 2025.

The boost of reliability and integrity offshore is anticipated to set a solid foundation for growing production over time. Due to the nature of the installed infrastructure offshore, the 2025 agenda is slated to entail partial asset shut-downs, particularly in 2Q and 3Q 2025.

In addition to Seplat, other players have recently been active in Nigeria’s offshore exploration arena. Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) and its compatriot joint venture (JV) partner First Exploration & Petroleum Development Company (First E&P) recently made a hydrocarbon discovery described as “significant,” in the Songhai field situated in block OML 85 offshore the country.