Oil & gas ramp-up: Start-up of African field on track as drilling ops in Benin and Norway continue

Lime Petroleum, a subsidiary of Rex International Holding, is making inroads in its quest to boost hydrocarbon production by pursuing drilling activities off the coasts of Benin and Norway and progressing its conversion of a mobile offshore production unit (MOPU) in Dubai, and the delivery of a floating storage and offloading unit (FSO) on schedule for production to kick off in the next quarter.

Akrake Petroleum Benin, Lime’s wholly-owned subsidiary and operator of the Sèmè field, began drilling the first of three wells at the field using Borr Drilling’s Gerd jack-up drilling rig on August 4, 2025, marking the start of a 100-day three-well work program for the development project in Block 1, which covers 551 square kilometers in shallow water ranging from 20 to 30 meters. 

The firm also confirmed that the conversion of the MOPU in Dubai was progressing according to plan, with dry docking and underwater work completed, enabling the installation of process equipment onto the vessel to start. The delivery of the MOPU to Akrake and the dry docking of the FSO, contracted in April, are on schedule for the start of production in Q4 2025.

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

Regarding activities across assets in which it holds a stake in Norway, Lime has revealed that the OKEA-operated Brage platform’s production exceeds expectations, as concurrent drilling operations continue at Brage and Bestla, which is tied back to the Brage asset.

A three-well campaign is being pursued in the Talisker area on the northern reaches of the Brage field to test the deeper layers in the Talisker area, better delineate the currently producing Oseberg section in the Talisker area, and add a production well in the Oseberg formation.

Lars B. Hübert, Chief Executive Officer of Lime, emphasized: “We are excited about achieving first oil in Benin, elated about the surge in production at Brage and the prospect of Bestla coming onstream in Norway, and anticipate the prospect of executing on our plans to increase production in Schwarzbach/Erfelden in Germany.

“The heightened activity is in line with our strategy to drive up production rates in our portfolio in the short-term.”

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