Rex confirms resource estimate for oilfield redevelopment offshore Benin

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

According to Rex, the updated QPR for the H6 reservoir in Sèmè field in Block 1, offshore Benin, has been prepared by Exceed Torridon Limited, as part of the company’s obligations to disclose its reserves and resources. 

Partners in the production sharing contract for Block 1 are Rex’s affiliate Akrake Petroleum, with a 76% interest, the government of Benin with 15%, and Octogone Trading with 9%.

The block covers 551 square kilometers in shallow water ranging from 20 to 30 meters. The Sèmè field was discovered by Union Oil in 1969 and developed by Saga Petroleum. It produced approximately 22 million barrels of oil (MMbbl) between 1982 and 1998, when production was stopped due to low oil prices and large volumes of water accompanying oil production.

The gross field resources attributable to the license remain unchanged in relation to the previous report–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.

However, seeing that Rex’s interest in the field decreased from 63.64% to 60.91% after a change in its shareholding, its net entitlement volume has decreased by 3.4%, 3.3%, and 3.1% for low 1P, base 2P, and high 3P reserves, respectively.

As confirmed in the Singaporean firm’s latest report, the field has demonstrated good productivity. The plan is to initially redevelop it using a phased approach aiming to restart production and maximize oil recovery through the use of horizontal wells and modern completion technology for effective water control.

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.

After that, a second, horizontal well will be drilled to exploit the previously produced H6 reservoir. As stated by Rex, Phase 1 will be concluded by drilling two horizontal wells in 2026. The production system to be used is a highly flexible system comprising a drilling platform, a mobile offshore production unit (MOPU), and a floating storage and offtake unit (FSO) 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.