Akra Petroleum, a subsidiary of Singapore’s Rex International Holding, announced plans to commence oil production from the Seme oilfield offshore Benin by the end of January 2026. The company had initially scheduled production to begin in the fourth quarter of 2025 but encountered delays due to technical challenges during drilling operations.
In August 2025, Akra Petroleum used Borr Drilling’s “Gold” jack-up rig to drill the first of three wells for the development project at the Seme oilfield. The company stated, “Drilling through the geomechanically unstable shale overburden above the reservoir proved more challenging than anticipated, resulting in significant delays due to multiple pipe-sticking incidents, which required the overburden section to be re-drilled.” The drilling team subsequently optimized parameters using newly acquired data and successfully completed the challenging well section.
The new production schedule is based on the completion of drilling the AK-2H horizontal production well, which is expected to commence drilling this week. The field development plan also includes an exploratory well aimed at obtaining information on deeper hydrocarbon reservoirs. The mobile offshore production unit and the floating storage and offloading unit intended for production have been upgraded and deployed.
The Seme oilfield is located in Block 1 offshore Benin, covering an area of 551 square kilometers in shallow waters with depths ranging from 20 to 30 meters. Initially developed by a Norwegian company, the field produced approximately 22 million barrels of oil cumulatively between 1982 and 1998 before operations were suspended due to changes in market conditions.
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Post time: Jan-22-2026