Seplat discovers 157 billion cubic feet of gas, 19 million barrels of oil in Nigeria

Seplat Energy Plc, one of Nigeria’s leading indigenous energy companies, has announced the discovery of an estimated 157 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas and 19 million barrels of oil in place at its Aku-01 exploration well in Nigeria.

The discovery, which occurred after the end of September 2026, was disclosed by the company on Thursday, October 29, in its unaudited financial results for the nine months ended September 30, 2026.

The development comes as Seplat Energy reported a pre-tax profit of N1.34 trillion during the period, representing an increase of 52.75% from N878.99 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2025.

Seplat reveals details of new oil and gas discovery

Seplat disclosed that the oil discovery at Aku-01 was unexpected, as the original exploration programme did not anticipate finding crude oil alongside natural gas.

According to the company, preliminary assessments of the well have identified substantial hydrocarbon resources, although further evaluation will be required to determine the commercially recoverable volumes.

• “Post period end, the Company successfully discovered oil and gas in the Aku-01 exploration well. Preliminary internal estimates indicate a mid-case gas in-place resource of 157 Bcf and oil in-place resource of 19 MMbbls. Encouragingly, an oil discovery was not part of the original well plan,” the company stated.

Seplat explained that work is underway to complete the exploration well for potential future production, with plans to connect it to existing infrastructure to facilitate early commercial development of the discovered resources.

The discovery has also reduced exploration uncertainty across four neighbouring prospects within the licence area, prompting the company to plan a second exploration well in the Aku area in 2027.

Seplat currently holds a 40% operated interest in Petroleum Prospecting Licence (PPL) 2A25, where the discovery was made.

Seplat’s crude oil and gas production rises in nine months

Seplat’s average daily working-interest crude oil and condensate production increased to 103,173 barrels per day (bopd) in the first nine months of 2026, compared with 101,793 bopd recorded in the corresponding period of 2025, representing an increase of approximately 1.4%.

• The figure was also higher than the 99,518 bopd reported in the company’s half-year 2026 results.

Natural gas production averaged 194.9 million standard cubic feet per day (MMscfd) during the nine-month period, representing an increase of approximately 11.6% from 174.7 MMscfd recorded in the corresponding period of 2025.

• This was also higher than the 182.9 MMscfd reported for the first half of 2026.

Similarly, natural gas liquids (NGL) production increased significantly to 8,222 bopd, compared with 3,719 bopd in the corresponding period of 2025, representing growth of approximately 121%.

• However, this was below the 8,459 bopd recorded in the company’s half-year results.

Overall, Seplat’s combined working-interest production averaged 144,999 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in the first nine months of 2026, up 7% from 135,636 boepd in the corresponding period of 2025.

Seplat records N3.78 trillion revenue, declares higher dividend

On the financial side, Seplat reported revenue of N3.78 trillion for the nine months ended September 30, 2026, compared with N3.36 trillion in the corresponding period of 2025.

• The company also recorded a profit after tax of N355.6 billion, compared with N146.6 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Following its financial and operational performance, Seplat declared a third-quarter dividend of 19 US cents per share, comprising a core dividend of 5 cents and a special dividend of 14 cents.

The latest declaration brings the company’s cumulative dividends declared for the first nine months of 2026 to 40 US cents per share.

• Seplat also maintained its full-year underlying dividend guidance of $270 million, equivalent to 45 US cents per share.
• In addition, the company plans to distribute approximately $140 million to shareholders following the anticipated completion of the sale of a 10% interest in its NNPCL-SEPNU joint venture to NNPC Limited.
• If completed as planned, the transaction would bring Seplat’s expected total dividend distributions for 2026 to approximately $410 million.

Meanwhile, Seplat Energy’s share price closed unchanged at an all-time high of N16,000.10 on October 28, 2026, with 57,476 shares traded, compared with 9,884 shares in the preceding session.

The stock has gained approximately 175% year-to-date from its opening price of N5,809.