Nestoil Group has reactivated its Pathfinder 500 drilling rig after about eight years on standby, completing workover operations on two producing wells in Oil Mining Lease (OML) 42 and generating incremental oil production from the asset.
The rig was deployed through Nestoil’s strategic business unit, Scorpio Drilling International, and completed the two-well campaign without a reported health, safety or environmental incident. The Pathfinder 500 was subsequently demobilised, with the company now preparing for a wider in-field drilling programme on OML 42.
The development follows Nestoil’s approximately $28 million investment in two drilling rigs, the Pathfinder 500 and Scorpio 300. The company said the investment was intended to reduce its reliance on hired rigs, which can be expensive and difficult to secure in Nigeria, while giving it greater control over workovers and future drilling activities.
For investors, the development is significant for Nigeria’s upstream sector because increased drilling and workover activity on OML 42 could help revive mature wells and support higher production from the asset. Nestoil’s indigenous drilling capacity also potentially creates a new service opportunity through Scorpio Drilling International, which intends to provide drilling services to third-party operators.
The company’s next major catalyst will be the planned in-field drilling programme and whether the revived production can be sustained and expanded across OML 42. The scale of additional production and the economics of deploying the rigs will determine the investment payoff from the $28 million infrastructure commitment.
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