Benin
Akrake Petroleum Benin SA
Akrake Petroleum Benin SA (“Akrake Benin”) signed in December 2023, a production sharing contract (“PSC”) for operatorship and a 76 per cent* working interest in Block 1, Sèmè Field in Benin, West Africa. The government of Benin and Octogone Trading, an integrated energy and commodities company trading throughout West Africa, will hold the remaining working interest.
* Subject to the Benin government's entitlements under the PSC
About the Sèmè Field
The offshore Block 1 in Benin covers 551 sq km and is in shallow water depth of 20 to 30 metres. The block includes the Sèmè Field discovered by Union Oil in 1969. The Sèmè Field was first developed by Norwegian oil company, Saga Petroleum (Saga), and had produced approximately 22 MMbbl1 between 1982 and 1998, before production was stopped prematurely due to low oil prices of around US$14 per barrel in 1998.
Akrake Benin will initially redevelop the Sèmè Field and apply the Rex Group’s tried and tested low-cost production system comprising a jack-up Mobile Offshore Production Unit (MOPU) and a Floating Storage and Offloading Unit (FSO), to restart production. Horizontal wells and modern completion technology for water control will be used to maximise total oil recovery. Previous drillings in the Sèmè Field in 2014 to 2015 have proven additional deeper hydrocarbon accumulations of oil and gas. Further appraisal tests, including the appointment of a qualified person to independently assess the amount of reserves in the field, will be undertaken in conjunction with the early production drilling. Additional reserves and resources, if any, can be produced through the infrastructure to be installed in one of the reservoirs.
Akrake Benin will tap on the Rex Group’s teams in Norway and Oman for their geological & geophysical expertise and the deep technical & operational know how, and establish a professional team locally, to work towards filing a Field Development Plan to restart production as soon as possible. Exploration opportunities to unlock unexploited oil and especially gas potential in the field will also be evaluated.
1MMbbl- millions of barrels