Seplat Energy eyes production surge as Yoho platform restart set for second quarter

Seplat Energy Plc is positioning for a significant production step-up in the coming months as the Nigerian independent prepares to bring its Yoho offshore production platform back online before the end of June, following a period of extensive maintenance that dragged first-quarter output below internal targets.

The Lagos- and London-listed company said in its first-quarter results published Thursday that daily working interest production averaged approximately 153,000 barrels of oil equivalent in the first 26 days of April, a figure that comfortably exceeds the midpoint of its full-year guidance range of 135,000 to 155,000 boepd.

That reading arrives before Yoho contributes a single barrel, lending confidence to management’s view that the company remains on track to deliver within its annual production envelope.

“April to date production has averaged c.153 kboepd, illustrating the potential of our asset base,” Roger Brown, chief executive officer, said in the results statement. “Notably, this is before the return of Yoho, scheduled to come back onstream before the end 2Q 2026, and full ramp-up of ANOH.”

The Yoho platform, located in the offshore Niger Delta, was taken offline in late 2025 to address structural and mechanical deficiencies that had accumulated over years of operation.
During the first quarter, crews replaced more than 60 kilometres of cabling and carried out close to 400 piping spool replacements.

Management accelerated additional planned maintenance work originally scheduled for the second half of the year, including valve replacements and riser repairs, effectively front-loading costs and disruption to protect production reliability over a longer horizon.

The consequence was visible in first-quarter numbers. Group production averaged 129,841 boepd, down one percent year-on-year from 131,745 boepd and higher by nine percent compared with the fourth quarter of 2025.

Unit production operating costs surged to $17.1 per barrel of oil equivalent against guidance of $13.5 to $14.5, reflecting the Yoho maintenance spend alongside lower volumes to spread fixed costs across. Management guided that unit costs would normalise through subsequent quarters as Yoho returns and overall throughput rises.

Beyond Yoho, Seplat’s production trajectory for the remainder of 2026 draws support from several additional vectors. The ANOH gas processing plant on the Eastern Assets achieved first gas in January 2026 and delivered working interest volumes of 17 million standard cubic feet per day in the first quarter, though a bottleneck on the Trans Niger Pipeline constrained the ramp-up of condensate evacuation.

The pipeline operator is planning repair works during a three-week shutdown in the second quarter, after which Seplat expects to accelerate throughput. At end-April, the plant was processing at roughly half of nameplate capacity and had already achieved a peak rate of approximately 193 million standard cubic feet per day.

The offshore idle well restoration programme added 10,000 barrels per day of gross joint venture production capacity from eight successfully restored wells in the first quarter. Since inception, the programme has delivered cumulative capacity additions of 58,600 barrels per day from 58 wells at a total cost of $83 million, which Seplat describes as strongly value-accretive. The company expects the pace of well work to accelerate as barge availability improves.

Natural gas liquids production provided a particularly bright spot in the quarter, with working interest volumes rising 190 percent year-on-year to 9,802 barrels per day following the replacement of the inlet gas exchanger at the East Area Project facility offshore. NGL revenue more than tripled year-on-year to reach $50.9 million, lifting its contribution to group revenues from one percent to six percent.

The Oso-BRT pipeline upgrade, designed to double gas supply capacity to Nigeria LNG from 120 to 240 million standard cubic feet per day, remains on course for completion in the third quarter of 2026. Engineering design is complete and most long-lead equipment has been procured.

A new jack-up drilling unit, Shelf Drilling Victory, is in country and expected to mobilise to Seplat’s assets and commence offshore drilling operations during the third quarter, targeting two new wells at Oso.

Seplat shares trade on both the Nigerian Exchange under the ticker SEPLAT and the London Stock Exchange under SEPL.