Drilling done: MOPU and FSO hook-up in motion at African oil field

February 3, 2026, by Melisa Cavcic

Akrake Petroleum, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lime Petroleum, which is an 89.74% subsidiary of Singapore’s Rex International, is approaching the finish line for the activities related to the hook-up of a mobile offshore production unit (MOPU) and a floating storage and offloading (FSO) unit at an oil field off the coast of Benin that has been offline since the late 1990s.

A jackup rig being transported on a vessel — Borr Drilling’s Gerd jack-up rig; Source: Crystal Offshore Middle East

While explaining that the work on final hook-up of the MOPU Stella Energy 1 and the FSO Kristina is progressing on the Sèmè field, Akrake Petroleum confirms the completion of the AK-2H production well in Benin, after starting the drilling of the first of three wells at the field with Borr Drilling’s Gerd jack-up drilling rig in August 2025 to bring the development project back online.

Previously, the firm encountered technical issues, which delayed the production start-up, previously slated for 4Q 2025. In light of the delay, the operator anticipated the field in Block 1 to be put into production mode once again at the end of January 2026.

According to the company, a total of 1,405 meters was drilled horizontally through the reservoir section, with a total of approximately 950 meters of oil-saturated reservoir sandstone of the Abeokuta Formation of Cretaceous age, informally called H6.

While the remainder is non-reservoir shale, no water-bearing sand was encountered. The well was geo-steered using advanced logging while drilling (LWD) tools to ensure the well only encountered oil-bearing reservoir sandstone.

Akrake claims that the reservoir quality is in line with expectations, with an average porosity of over 19% and an average oil saturation over 70%. The reservoir section has now been completed with screens fitted with autonomous inflow control valves (AICVs).

The operator elaborates that the screens ensure the well stays open and avoids sand flowing into it, while the AICVs reduce water-production, maximising oil production from the well.

The firm recently said the well would be ready for production in the first week of February 2026. A downhole electrical submersible pump (ESP) is now being installed above the screens.

Following the initial discovery by Union Oil in 1969, the Sèmè field was first developed by Norway’s Saga Petroleum. The production ceased in the late 1990s due to low oil prices.

The field within Block 1, which covers 551 square kilometers in shallow water ranging from 20 to 30 meters, produced around 22 million barrels of oil between 1982 and 1998.