Rex International Holding Ltd. subsidiary Akrake Petroleum Benin SA spudded the first well for redevelopment of Sèmè field in Block 1, Benin, West Africa.
The well is being drilled by the Borr Gerd jack-up drilling rig as part of a 100-day three-well redevelopment work program. The drilling campaign includes two horizontal production wells in the H6 formation (previously developed), as well as a deeper vertical appraisal well to gather data from the H7 and H8 reservoirs. These wells will facilitate the potential advancement to Phase 2 development.
The drilling campaign for the phased development is expected to be completed in fourth-quarter 2025, at which time the contracted refurbished mobile offshore production unit (MOPU) will arrive, along with a floating storage and offloading unit (FSO). After installation of the MOPU and the FSO, the MOPU will be hooked to the newly drilled wells, and initial production rates are expected to be about 15,000 bo/d.
Along with the restart of production in Sèmè field after almost three decades of inactivity, more data on the subsurface will be collected to be analyzed together with recently reprocessed 3D seismic data obtained in 2007. This data will optimize further development of the field, such as untapping deeper reservoir sections.
Sèmè field was discovered in 1969 and covers 551 sq km in 20-30 m of water. Production was halted in 1998 due to low oil prices.
Akrake Petroleum is operator at Block 1 (76%).
