Nestoil Group has successfully deployed its Pathfinder 500 rig to complete workover operations on two producing wells in Oil Mining Lease (OML) 42 through its strategic business unit, Scorpio Drilling International.
The company carried out the workover campaign using the Pathfinder 500, one of two rigs acquired by the Group in an investment of approximately $28 million. The second rig is the Scorpio 300.
Nestoil said the rig was successfully mobilized to OML 42, where it completed workover operations on the two wells without any Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) incidents. The work increased oil production from the asset, after which the company safely demobilized the rig back to base.
The achievement marks the Pathfinder 500’s first productive assignment since Nestoil acquired it about eight years ago. The rig remained idle during that period, with many questioning whether the company would ever successfully deploy it.
Nestoil Group said the milestone supports its long-term plan to build indigenous drilling capacity and support the redevelopment of OML 42, a legacy Shell-operated asset. The company also plans to use the capacity to pursue additional in-field drilling opportunities across the field and increase oil production in the Niger Delta.
Speaking on the development, Chairman of the Nestoil/Neconde Group, Dr. Ernest Obiejesi, described the milestone as an important achievement for the Group and Nigeria’s indigenous drilling capacity.
Obiejesi said the rig remained idle for eight years amid doubts over whether it would ever return to productive service. He noted that its successful mobilization, incident-free workover operations, and safe demobilization marked a significant achievement for the organization.
Obiejesi said the group invested in the Pathfinder 500 and Scorpio 300 after recognizing that Nigeria’s operating environment makes it difficult and expensive to depend on hired rigs. As an asset owner in OML 42, the Group needed its own reliable drilling capacity to carry out workovers, restore older wells, and eventually drill new wells as the field matures.
He said the latest achievement puts the group in a stronger position to begin its planned in-field drilling program.
Obiejesi also said Nigerian personnel handled the entire project, from rig refurbishment to crewing, without foreign partners or external support. He added that the crew currently operating the rig is entirely Nigerian.
The chairman attributed this capability to decades of local capacity building by international oil and gas operators in Nigeria. He said this experience has helped Nigeria develop skilled drilling professionals who now work in other oil-producing countries. He also commended the teams at Scorpio Drilling International and everyone involved in rehabilitating and operating the rig.
Obiejesi said the achievement extends beyond Nestoil Group. With two operating rigs, Scorpio Drilling International now joins the group of companies that own and operate drilling rigs in Nigeria, a measure of indigenous drilling capacity in other oil-producing countries.
He described the development as a contribution to the growth of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry. Through Neconde Energy, Nestoil Group holds interests in OML 42.
source: www.thisdaylive.com
African Energy Council