Drilling activity stepping up at Akpo, Egina and Agbami offshore Nigeria

Meren Energy expects drilling to resume this year around the deepwater Akpo and Egina field centers offshore Nigeria following the break in 2025, according to the company's latest quarterly results report.

The company said it was heartened by the federal government’s confirmation of its support for upstream development through various regulatory stability and commercial incentives, which are supporting capital commitment across offshore oil and gas projects.

Meren cited recent FIDs on major new developments such as Bonga North, the Ubeta Gas Project, and the HI Offshore Gas Project.

TotalEnergies and its partners, which include Meren, are working to secure a deepwater rig to drill the Akpo Far East near-field prospect as the first planned well in their latest campaign.

This should be followed by further infill development wells at the Akpo and Egina fields in late 2026 and into early next year, with identification of opportunities strengthened by recent interpretation of 4D seismic data.

If successful, Akpo Far East could be a potential fast-track tieback to the Akpo facilities. The prospect is 5 km east of the Akpo Field.

Work also continues to assess remaining subsurface and development opportunities across the PML 2/3/4 license area.

Planned appraisal activity in the Egina South area in OPL 257, currently proposed for 2026, may further de-risk adjacent resources.

At the Chevron-operated Agbami Field, FPSO unit life-extension studies should conclude later this year, and ongoing 4D seismic interpretation and rig contracting activities for the Agbami infill drilling program remain on track for this to begin during first-quarter 2027.

Initially, the partners are looking to drill the Ikija appraisal well to kick off the campaign.