Seplat finds 19 million barrels of oil and 157 bcf of gas in Imo State

Seplat Energy has made a new oil discovery in Imo State. The discovery was through its Aku-01 exploration in onshore Imo State under Oil Mining Lease (OML) 53.

Seplat said the find was accidental and not part of its original exploration plan. In its latest earnings report, the company estimated the gas deposit at 157 bcf and the oil resource at 19 million barrels.

The company stated, "The well is currently being completed as a potential future production well, that will be tied-back to existing infrastructure, supporting early monetization of the hydrocarbon resources."

Seplat also noted, "The discovery also de-risks four adjacent prospects." The company plans to test one of these four prospects during the next exploration phase.

Future Plans

Seplat is excited about this initial success. They plan to start the second phase of exploration in the oilfield as early as next year. Five reservoir intervals have already been uncovered during this discovery.

Seplat has a 40 percent stake in OML 53, which it bought from Chevron in 2015. The remaining shares are owned by NNPC Limited, its joint venture partner.

This discovery comes as Nigeria aims to increase oil production to 3 million barrels per day by 2030. Currently, production is at 1.72 million barrels per day, including condensates. The government is working to attract more foreign investment in the energy sector.

Nigeria, as Africa's largest crude producer, is pushing for reforms. These include tax incentives for deep offshore drilling, clearer block licensing rounds, and a drill-or-drop policy to boost oil output.

Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, the chief executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, said the regulator has approved field development plans worth over $57 billion in the last two years. This will help such projects move to final investment decisions.

In the first nine months of this year, Seplat reported a 12.5 percent increase in revenue to N3.8 trillion compared to last year. This rise was driven by better crude oil sales.

Profit before tax went up by more than half to N1.3 trillion. Post-tax profit rose to N355.6 billion from N146.6 billion.

However, total assets fell by 6.3 percent to N8.2 trillion, down from N8.7 trillion at the end of last year.