Can you update us on Platform Petroleum's activities?

We have made significant progress in our flagship asset, PML 18, the Egbaoma field, which has been in production since 2007. As planned in 2024, we completed drilling a well and hooked it up to production in August. The well, which was drilled as an appraisal well in an adjacent fault block, encountered five hydrocarbon-bearing reservoirs, thereby increasing the field’s reserves. We completed the well in two zones, and when tested in August, it produced up to 1,500 barrels of oil per day (bopd) and 12 million standard cubic feet per day (MMscfd) of associated gas, thereby increasing our gas production beyond what our existing gas infrastructure could handle.
  
Before last year, we had already achieved near-zero flare of associated gas with utilization up to 98.5%. So, with the increasing government fines on gas flaring, we had to ensure that all the produced gas in the field was completely utilized. Hence, we currently produce from that well at a rate of 750 bopd and 8 MMscfd, which is quite below its full production potential.  

What steps are you taking to address the gas processing constraints?

Based on the gas processing capacity constraints and the need to align with the Nigerian Gas Infrastructure Company’s elevated OB3 pipeline pressure (now ~900 PSI to mitigate condensation), we adjusted our 2024/2025 work program to include upgrading surface facilities from 40 MMscf to 60 MMscf, and we are installing five compressors (including three boosters) to achieve injection pressures of 1,500 PSI. We are currently implementing the projects to install booster compressors, amongst others. It will take about 44 a year to complete and commission the projects. When completed, the field gas facilities will be able to handle 60 MMscf and inject at pressures up to 1500 PSI.

How has this affected your drilling plans for the field?

We had to defer drilling the second well because of the surface facility constraints I described. By the first quarter of 2026, we will drill the second well. Based on the discovery in that fault block, the field’s reserve volumes have increased, and current information indicates that a section of the reservoir will require a minimum of two wells to deplete. Therefore, we have planned to drill one more well in that compartment in the first quarter of 2026. From now until around this time next year, we will be spending over US$40 million on CapEx, which is self-funded through Egbaoma revenues.

How are you financing new investments?

We are expanding our asset base with four other assets we are developing with our partners. We are the operator and key driver for two of these assets - the Kuri and Hely Creek fields. There are two other assets, which are driven by the incorporated SPVs as required by the regulator. Because of this expansion in our activities, we require additional funding. Egbaoma field is self-sustaining, and the equity funding for the other assets partly comes from this field. We have secured funding from local financial institutions. 

With recent significant divestments, what opportunities do you see in the marginal field space?

The onshore and shallow water space in Nigeria is still largely underdeveloped and requires huge investments. Within those divested assets by the IOCs, many fields are lying fallow. Egbaoma field, discovered by Shell in 1977, exemplifies this trend—undeveloped for 30 years until our 2007 production launch. 

The initial explorations by the IOCs focused on oil discovery and development because gas did not have commercial value then. We now explore and develop fields as integrated assets, targeting gas and oil simultaneously. This presents huge opportunities for the onshore and shallow water players. However, the main challenge that the local players and independents will face is the inability to deploy enough capital resources to execute planned work programs on time.

What are Platform Petroleum's strategic plans for growth?

Our strategy prioritizes consolidating existing assets—five in total—to optimize production and cash flow. In the short term, we will develop these assets, bring them to production, and maximize their potential. By the time we fully consolidate, we will be within the second tier and aspiring to enter the first tier of E&P companies in Nigeria.