Oil major, ExxonMobil, and its partners are committing $1 billion to the Usan Infill Project offshore Nigeria, marking the company’s first drilling campaign in the country since 2016 and expected to add approximately 40,000 barrels per day of crude oil production.
Jagir Baxi, Managing Director of ExxonMobil Nigeria, confirmed the investment at an industry conference in Abuja. The project is operated by Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria — ExxonMobil’s local affiliate — under a production-sharing contract with NNPC Limited, Nigeria’s state-owned national oil company, on the OML 138 block, which encompasses the Usan field.
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), the body responsible for technical and commercial oversight of Nigeria’s upstream oil and gas sector, said seismic data analysis had identified additional development opportunities within the Usan field, providing the technical basis for the renewed investment.
First oil is expected within 18 months of the project’s commencement.
The announcement carries significant weight for Nigeria’s upstream sector, which has spent much of the past decade watching international oil majors reduce or exit their onshore and shallow-water positions. ExxonMobil itself agreed to sell its Nigerian onshore and shallow-water assets to Seplat Energy in a deal that has faced regulatory delays — making this deepwater commitment a pointed signal that the company retains appetite for the country’s offshore frontier.
Nigeria holds some of Africa’s largest proven crude reserves and has long positioned its deepwater acreage as a draw for major capital. The Usan field sits in deep water offshore the Niger Delta, a basin that has attracted sustained interest from global operators despite the broader divestment trend onshore.
A $1 billion infill drilling programme adding 40,000 barrels per day would represent a meaningful boost to Nigeria’s production figures at a time when the country has struggled to consistently meet its OPEC output quota. For international investors watching Africa’s upstream landscape, the move may signal that deepwater Nigeria remains commercially viable under the right contractual and regulatory conditions.
The NUPRC’s role in identifying and communicating the seismic upside also points to a more proactive posture from Nigeria’s upstream regulator — established under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) of 2021, which restructured the country’s oil and gas governance framework — in attracting and retaining foreign capital.
