Akrake Targets Late-January Production Start Up at Benin Offshore Field

Akrake Petroleum, an indirect subsidiary of Rex International, is expected to start oil production at the Sèmè Field offshore Benin by the end of January, following completion of drilling operations on a key production well.

Rex said production is expected to begin once drilling of the AK-2H horizontal production well reaches the reservoir section, with drilling scheduled to start early in the week of January 12. The well is one of two horizontal production wells targeting the H6 reservoir unit in Block 1.

The mobile offshore production unit (MOPU) Stella Energy 1 and the floating storage and offloading (FSO) unit Kristina have already been upgraded and positioned at the field, ready for production, the company said.

The Stella Energy 1 MOPU supporting the project was converted from an inactive rig into a fully operational mobile offshore production unit by Drydocks World for client Grander Energy in late 2025.

Akrake’s drilling campaign included one exploration well, AK-1P, aimed at gathering information on deeper hydrocarbon-bearing reservoirs within the Sèmè Field, and two horizontal production wells, AK-1H and AK-2H. Drilling encountered geomechanically unstable shale layers in the overburden above the reservoir, leading to delays caused by multiple stuck pipe incidents and the need to redrill sections of the well.

Rex said the drilling team used new geomechanical data obtained during operations to optimize drilling parameters and successfully drill through the challenging overburden in the AK-2H well.

After the AK-2H well is brought on stream, drilling on the remaining two wells will be suspended as the contract for Borr Drilling’s jack-up drilling rig Gerd reaches its end. Akrake plans to secure a new drilling rig later in 2026 to complete the drilling campaign and will assess the potential for an additional production well in the H6 reservoir based on production data from AK-2H.

Akrake is the operator of the Sèmè Field with an approximately 76% working interest. The government of Benin holds 15%, while Octogone Trading holds the remaining 9%.

Initial production is expected to reach about 15,000 barrels of oil per day once the newly drilled wells are connected to the MOPU, the company said earlier.