West Africa: Sèmè field offshore Benin targets late-January startup

Akrake Petroleum Benin S.A. expects to begin oil production at the Sèmè field offshore Benin by late January 2026, following completion of drilling operations in the reservoir section of the AK-2H horizontal production well.

The Sèmè field is located in shallow waters of the Gulf of Guinea, offshore southeastern Benin and near the maritime border with Nigeria. The field was previously on production in the late 1970s and early 1980s and is being redeveloped under Block 1 as part of Benin’s efforts to revive offshore oil activity.

The development is operated by Akrake Petroleum, an indirect subsidiary of Rex International Holding. Production facilities, including the mobile offshore production unit Stella Energy 1 and the floating storage and offloading vessel Kristina, have been upgraded and positioned on location in preparation for startup.

The current drilling campaign included one exploration well targeting deeper, previously undeveloped reservoirs and two horizontal production wells in the H6 reservoir. Drilling encountered challenging geomechanical conditions in unstable shale layers above the reservoir, resulting in delays due to stuck pipe incidents. Updated geomechanical data enabled the drilling team to optimize parameters and successfully complete the overburden section in the AK-2H well.

Once AK-2H is placed on production, drilling operations on the remaining wells will be suspended as the contract for the current jack-up rig concludes. Akrake plans to secure a new drilling rig later in 2026 to complete the remaining wells and evaluate additional production opportunities based on early output data.