•Eyes expansion to other African nations

Peter Uzoho

Nigerian independent oil and gas producer and operator of the Oil Mining Lease (OML17), Heirs Energies Limited, has laid out its future growth plans, aiming to further raise its crude oil production from the divested onshore asset to 100,000 barrels per day and gas output to 150 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscf/d) in the next couple of years.

The company is also looking at expanding its business to other African nations where it wants to replicate its model of excellence and good track record of cost-efficient upstream operation in Nigeria to other countries.

Chief Executive Officer of Heirs Energies, Mr. Osa Igiehon revealed these plans yesterday during a parley with energy reporters in Lagos, describing the company as the brownfield champion because of its record of speedy reactivation of old and abandoned oil and gas wells and facilities.

Igiehon said from production of 27,000bpd at the time of takeover of OML17 in 2021, Heirs Energies quickly doubled the output to 50,000bpd within 100 days.

He stated: “When you talk about Heirs Energies and what we want to do with OML 17, our ambition is to get the production to 100,000 barrels of oil per day. That’s our ambition. It will take us a couple of years, but that’s what we are working on.

“We’re a very close-minded company. We are not caretakers. We are growers. So that’s the journey we are on. It’s not going to be an easy journey, but we are going there. As we grow the oil, we are also going to grow the gas.

“So we are hoping to be able to grow our gas production. We have a capacity for 100 million scf per day. There are many factors that determine what we do every day. But our ambition is to take it to at least 150 million scfs per day. So 100,000 barrels, 150 million scfs. That’s our ambition, what we think OML 17 can deliver. And we then look to grow our portfolio both in Nigeria and overseas. What we’ve done with this asset is a template.”

He said Energies boasts of about 1.5 billion barrels oil reserve which can last for 75 years going by current production level. 

He called for more focus and investment in increasing production of oil and gas rather than in reserves growth because of the energy transition deadline, saying Nigeria’s current reserve can last for till the next 75 years. 

“The imperative for this country, both short-term and long-term, is about increasing production. Our economy is tied to it. Our long-term sustainability is tied to it.

“And it’s almost like you’re working against a deadline. You have to try and get as much value out before it becomes less valuable. So reserves are important, but right now, production is more important”, he explained. 

Igiehon described his Heirs Energies as the “brownfield champions in Nigeria and possibly in Africa”,

He said stability has substantially returned to Nigeria’s exploration and production sector as the case of oil theft has reduced, noting that currently, the company gets about 95 per cent of production that gets to the crude terminal.

He said the company had not only shown that it has big ambitions but has also demonstrated a track record of making things work and daring to enter where others chickened out. 

“Even when I go to other countries, I will talk about it. We are also helping change the narrative of what people used to think about Nigeria.

“So when you tell people that an asset onshore gets close to 100 per cent of its volume at the terminal now, people are like, really? All we used to think about onshore Nigeria before was crude oil. So it’s also helping change that narrative. And the fact that we have done this with a 100 per cent Nigerian workforce”, he said.

“My whole organisation, I’m sure they’ve told you, is 100 per cent Nigerian. And our contractors are 95 per cent indigenous. So these are verifiable”,he added.

However, Igiehon disclosed that Heirs Energies’ operational efficiency has earned the company the lowest cost operator in the nation’s upstream oil and gas space, according to assessment by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC).

He added that the company was also the largest gas supplier to the domestic market and responsible for supplying feedstock to about five power generating companies as well as industries in the whole Eastern corridor

The post OML17: Heirs Energies Sets Ambitious 100,000 Bpd, 150mmscf/d Gas Output Targets appeared first on THISDAYLIVE.

​