A deepwater drillship has reached TotalEnergies' Akpo field, with drilling due from 13 November

A new drilling campaign is about to start in Nigeria's deep water, on one of the fields that has kept the country's oil flowing for more than 15 years.

The rig and the plan

The ultra-deepwater drillship Noble BlackRhino crossed into Nigerian waters on 2 November after sailing 738 nautical miles from Côte d'Ivoire, and reached the Akpo field at 6am on 3 November, Premium Times reported, citing TotalEnergies' own announcement. Drilling of the first well, AFE-1X, is scheduled to begin on 13 November.

The rig's owner, Noble Corporation, confirmed the work in its third-quarter results, filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on 26 October. It says the BlackRhino "was awarded a four-well contract with TotalEnergies in Nigeria", expected to start in the fourth quarter of 2026. The filing puts the work at about 150 days, with six more option wells at agreed prices.

Who owns Akpo

Akpo sits in the block now known as PML 2, formerly OML 130. Premium Times lists the partners as TotalEnergies Upstream Nigeria, the operator, with 24 per cent; China's CNOOC with 45 per cent; South Atlantic Petroleum with 15 per cent; and Prime 130 with 16 per cent. NNPC holds the licence as concessionaire. The field began producing in March 2009.

What we do not know

TotalEnergies has not said whether AFE-1X is an exploration well or a development well, what it costs, or how much oil or gas the campaign is expected to add. Premium Times also asked which host community trust covers the offshore field under the Petroleum Industry Act. TotalEnergies lists five trusts for its Nigerian operations, but the paper could not find one tied to Akpo and the neighbouring Egina field, and TotalEnergies had not replied by the time it published.

This is a separate project from TotalEnergies' sale of 40 per cent of the OPL257 block to SAPETRO, announced last week. Read that story.

What it means for you

New wells on older fields help hold up Nigeria's oil output, which pays for much of government spending and brings in the dollars that support the naira. Deepwater fields are also less exposed to the pipeline theft and sabotage that cut output onshore. For communities on the coast, the open question is which trust receives the community share of this field's money.