One of Nigeria’s top oil companies, Seplat Energy, has expressed readiness to work with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPCL) to boost Nigeria’s crude production capacity.
This, according to the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Roger Brown is in with President Bola Tinubu’s goal to increase Nigeria’s oil output.
Brown made this known in an interview with the Financial Times while speaking on its newly acquired onshore assets from ExxonMobil Corporation.
He expressed commitment to doubling its production capacity from 50,000 barrels per day to roughly 120,000 barrels per day in six months.
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He further disclosed that the company now controls 16 per cent of Nigeria’s present production capacity.
“We have no concerns working with NNPC Ltd . . . There’s been a massive change with President Tinubu, realising that production is a great way of getting dollars into the country and supporting the currency,” Brown said.
On his part, Seplat’s Chief Financial Officer Eleanor Adaralegbe projected that the company can raise the production output further in the coming months.
“The assets have had very minimal investments until now. We expect that once we come in there will be an opportunity to grow that much further,” he said.
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However, Chief Operating Officer Samson Ezugworie disclosed that many of the Nigerian assets require time and investment so they can produce again after being left idle for long.
“We have over 600 wells drilled and barely 200 of them are producing. We have significant idle wells that need to be rejuvenated and brought back into production within a short period of time” he added.
The Matrix reports that Seplat acquired Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited MPNU from ExxonMobil in December 2024, as the latter joined a list of International Oil Companies (IOCs) that exited the country or let go of onshore operations.
Thanks to the $1.28bn acquisition, Seplat is now one of the biggest domestic oil and gas producers with an asset base of 11 onshore oil blocks, 48 oil and gas fields, three export terminals, and five gas processing facilities.
