• Technical difficulties disrupt drilling operations offshore Benin
• Sèmè field restart, planned for late 2025, pushed back with no new date
• Target output of up to 16,000 barrels per day remains unchanged

The restart of oil production at the offshore Sèmè field in Benin will not take place within the initially planned timeline. According to information reported on Monday, December 29, 2025, by industry publication Upstream Online, technical problems disrupted drilling operations at the site, affecting the execution of the drilling campaign.

The drilling program, launched in August 2025 and intended to enable a resumption of production before the end of the year, was slowed by technical constraints. These were linked in particular to the performance of deployed equipment and the conditions under which the work was carried out, according to specialized media. While the precise causes have not been publicly detailed, they were considered sufficient to justify postponing the start of commercial production.

Discovered in the late 1960s by Union Oil, the Sèmè field was later developed by Norway’s Saga Petroleum and produced about 22 million barrels between 1982 and 1998. Operations were halted amid falling oil prices. After more than two decades of inactivity, the field is now the subject of a redevelopment project aimed at reviving production.

The Sèmè redevelopment project is operated by Akrake Petroleum, a subsidiary of Lime Petroleum controlled by Rex International. The operator holds a 76% stake, alongside the Beninese state with 15% and local partner Octogone Trading with 9%.

The development plan includes the drilling of three wells -two horizontal production wells and one appraisal well- as well as the installation of a mobile offshore production unit (MOPU) and a floating storage and offloading unit (FSO). Target production had been estimated at between 15,000 and 16,000 barrels per day, before technical challenges delayed the original schedule.

At this stage, neither the operator nor Beninese authorities have communicated a revised timeline for the start of production. Progress on the project remains dependent on resolving the identified technical constraints and the effective continuation of drilling operations.

Abdel-Latif Boureima