5 years after assuming operatorship of Nigeria’s OML 17, Heirs Energies says the true measure of the milestone lies not in time handed however in outcomes delivered throughout one of many nation’s most difficult brownfield property.
The corporate took management of the oil mining lease in early 2021, buying a forty five % curiosity for $1 billion on Jan. 15 of that 12 months and moving into the operator function forward of schedule on July 1. The asset, lengthy seen as complicated and operationally demanding, turned an early take a look at of Heirs Energies’ core perception that African capital and experience can handle strategic power infrastructure responsibly and at scale.
Since then, the operator says it has maintained a powerful security report, reporting zero fatalities and no misplaced time accidents since inception. The corporate attributes the result to its inner security tradition, which emphasizes private accountability in any respect ranges of operation.
Manufacturing progress has been a central focus. Oil output at OML 17 has greater than doubled over 5 years, rising from beneath 25,000 barrels per day to above 50,000 barrels per day. The rise has come with out new drilling campaigns or main facility expansions, relying as a substitute on the restoration of present infrastructure.
Fuel manufacturing has adopted an analogous trajectory. Every day output has risen from lower than 50 million customary cubic ft to greater than 120 million. Home gasoline provide has tripled, climbing from roughly 30 million to over 100 million customary cubic ft per day. That enhance has helped elevate electrical energy era linked to the asset from underneath 100 megawatts to greater than 325 megawatts, supporting Nigeria’s energy provide.
Firm officers level to what they describe as brownfield excellence as a defining function of the turnaround. Roughly 100 dormant wells have been reactivated, and pumps which were in service for greater than six a long time are working at uptime ranges above 85 %. The work was carried out with out including new wells or services, an method geared toward limiting capital depth whereas extending asset life.
Heirs Energies additionally credit its function in pushing again in opposition to crude oil theft, a persistent drawback within the Niger Delta. Terminal supply charges tied to the asset recovered from as little as 3 % in late 2021 to above 95 % by 2025, following coordinated safety and monitoring efforts.
On the monetary aspect, the corporate says it has emerged as one in every of Nigeria’s lowest price operators whereas delivering the very best manufacturing progress amongst friends between 2020 and 2024. All lending obligations have been met, culminating in a $750 million refinancing accomplished with Afreximbank.
Strategic enlargement adopted in late 2025, when Heirs Energies acquired a 20 % fairness stake in Seplat Vitality Restricted, making it the corporate’s largest single shareholder.
The workforce behind the outcomes is totally Nigerian, mixing skilled professionals with youthful expertise. Administration says the combination has helped construct operational depth whereas strengthening native functionality.
In a press assertion issued by Heirs Energies, the corporate’s leaders describe the 5 12 months journey as a mirrored image of chairman Tony O. Elumelu’s long run imaginative and prescient and an instance of Africapitalism in apply, the place business efficiency, social influence and nationwide growth advance collectively.
Because the anniversary is marked, the corporate says its focus stays firmly on what comes subsequent quite than on celebration alone.
