MOPU and FSO units linked, marking new milestone for African oil field revival

March 5, 2026, by Melisa Cavcic

Akrake Petroleum, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lime Petroleum Holding, which is an 89.74% subsidiary of Singapore’s Rex International Holding, has connected a mobile offshore production unit (MOPU) and a floating storage and offloading (FSO) asset at a field off the coast of Benin.

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

Last year, Akrake Petroleum, as the operator, embarked on drilling operations at the first of three wells at the Sèmè field using Borr Drilling’s Gerd jack-up drilling rig to breathe life back into the development project in Block 1.

Lime Petroleum has now confirmed the completion of the MOPU and FSO hook-up on the field in Benin. The company claims that the FSO Kristina was anchored in place over the previous week.

This was followed by a flow-line that has been laid from the MOPU Stella Energy 1 to the FSO. As a result, the operator underlines that the commissioning of the production system is well underway, with oil now flowing into the FSO.

The field, which was discovered by Union Oil in 1969, was first developed by Norway’s Saga Petroleum, producing around 22 million barrels of oil between 1982 and 1998, before production was stopped due to low oil prices in the late 1990s.

“Over the next several days, further testing and commissioning will take place, with the aim to optimise production rates and start regular production,” explained Lime.