Nestoil Deploys Rig, Completes Workover Operations on Two Oil Wells

Obiejesi: Group driving increased oil production in Nigeria Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja Nestoil Group at the weekend announced the successful deployment of one of its rigs, the Pathfinder 500, completing workover operations on two producing wells in Oil Mining Lease (OML) 42 through its strategic business unit, Scorpio Drilling International. The workover campaign, the oil firm said, was carried out using the Pathfinder 500 rig, one of two rigs, the second being the Scorpio 300, acquired by the Group as part of a combined investment of approximately $28 million. According to Nestoil, the rig was successfully mobilised to site in OML 42, completed workover operations on the two wells without any Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) incidents, thereby contributing to incremental oil production from the asset. It has since been safely demobilised back to base. The company stated that the achievement was particularly notable as it represents the rig’s first productive assignment since it was acquired roughly eight years ago, at a time when there was widespread scepticism that the unit would ever be deployed successfully. Nestoil Group described the milestone as a major proof point for its long-term strategy of building indigenous drilling capacity to support the redevelopment of OML 42, a legacy Shell-operated asset, and to unlock further in-field drilling opportunities across the field. It said the new operation will drive further oil production in the Niger Delta. Speaking on the achievement, Chairman of the Nestoil/Neconde Group, Dr. Ernest Obiejesi, described the milestone as a defining moment for the Group and for Nigeria’s indigenous drilling capacity. He noted that the rig sat idle for eight years amid widespread doubt that it would ever be put to productive use, making its successful mobilisation, incident-free workover operations and safe demobilisation a genuine success story for the organisation. Obiejesi explained that the investment in the Pathfinder 500 and Scorpio 300 rigs was driven by the recognition that Nigeria’s operating environment made it difficult and costly to rely on hired rigs, and that as an asset owner in OML 42, the Group needed reliable in-house capacity to conduct workovers, revive older wells and ultimately drill new wells as the field matured. He said the milestone now positions the Group to proceed with its planned in-field drilling programme. He further highlighted that the entire project, from rig refurbishment to crewing, was delivered wholly by Nigerian personnel, without foreign partnership or support, and that the crew currently operating the rig is 100 per cent Nigerian. The chairman credited this to decades of local capacity-building by international operators in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, which he said has positioned the country as a net exporter of skilled drilling personnel to other oil-producing nations. He commended the teams at Scorpio Drilling International and all those involved in the rig’s rehabilitation and operation. Obiejesi added that the achievement carries significance beyond Nestoil Group, noting that with two operating rigs, Scorpio Drilling International now stands among the ranks of companies with rig assets in Nigeria, a marker used across other oil-producing nations to gauge indigenous drilling capacity. He described the development as a value-adding contribution to the broader growth of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry. Nestoil Group, through Neconde Energy, holds interests in OML 42.