Energy
WAEP Targets 24-Month Production Surge, Gas Monetisation to Unlock 1.6bn Barrels
The Dangote Group’s upstream subsidiary, West Africa Exploration and Production Company (WAEP) is stepping up efforts to unlock more than 1.6 billion barrels of oil in place across its Nigerian assets, while targeting sustained production and gas monetisation within the next 24 months.
The company’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Olajumoke Cecilia Ajayi, said WAEP had adopted a phased strategy to revive production from its brownfield assets, generate early cash flow and reinvest the proceeds in wider field redevelopment.
Speaking at the AOW Energy Conference in Accra, Ghana, during a session titled “The Future of the African Operator: Building the IOCs of Tomorrow,” Ajayi said the company’s Oil Mining Leases 71 and 72, previously operated by Shell, represented a substantial resource opportunity, with more than 1.6 billion barrels of oil in place and about 1.9 trillion cubic feet of gas, based on discoveries to date.
The session, which also featured Olumide Ogunfowora, Adegbola Adesina, Temitope Edun and Uduakobong Equere, examined how African owned exploration and production companies can develop the technical, financial and institutional capacity required to compete at scale and take a larger role in the continent’s upstream industry. Ajayi, who is also President of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE), later moderated a separate session, “The Nigerian Upstream Opportunity: Unpacking Nigeria’s Basins.”
For WAEP, she said, the immediate priority is to extract value from existing production opportunities while building the foundation for long term redevelopment. “The first thing is to look at the low hanging fruit, the short term oil gains, generate cash flow from that, put it back into the assets and start redevelopment. And that’s exactly what is happening currently,” Ajayi said.
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The strategy is already moving into the execution phase as Ajayi noted that WAEP had signed contracts for three jack up rigs, with drilling expected to begin in December as the company seeks to increase production and unlock additional value from the OML 71 and OML 72 portfolio. “We will be drilling to ramp up production and also bring out the value in the asset,” she said. The drilling campaign is being supported by six field development plan studies currently under way, which Ajayi said would provide the basis for a series of “back to back developments” across the portfolio.
The combination of near term production opportunities, development drilling and field planning is expected to create a pipeline of activity beyond the initial drilling campaign. A potentially significant element of WAEP’s strategy is its relationship with Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals, which Ajayi identified as a potential domestic market for the company’s crude.
“One of the shareholders, one of the partners on this asset, is the owner of the largest refinery in Africa, Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals. So the oil would definitely be needed by the refinery,” she said.
The relationship could strengthen the link between Nigerian upstream production and domestic refining at a time when the country is seeking to retain more value from its crude within the domestic energy system.
Ajayi said WAEP was also working towards establishing a dedicated terminal to support crude evacuation as production increases. The proposed terminal could potentially serve not only WAEP but other producers seeking to aggregate and evacuate crude, creating an additional commercial opportunity around the company’s infrastructure.
Ajayi said the evolution of African independent operators would ultimately depend on their ability to transform asset ownership into sustained production and value creation. For companies taking over mature or brownfield assets from international oil companies, she said, the challenge extends beyond reserves and licences to include technical expertise, capital deployment, operational discipline and the ability to sustain production.
That capability, she said, was central to WAEP’s strategy. “We need to put round pegs in round holes. We need to put the right skill and competence in the different units,” Ajayi said. She said the company had been deliberate about strengthening its technical and organisational capabilities as it prepares for the next phase of development.
Within the next 24 months, she expects the company to have significantly ramped up production while putting gas monetisation infrastructure and arrangements in place. “Between now and the next 24 months, gas monetisation would have been in place. We would have ramped up production consistently,” she said. “Not produce today, tomorrow you are down. Consistent, sustained production.”
Joseph Ambakederimo, convener of the South-South Reawakening Group, has questioned the accountability of Nigeria’s crude oil forward sales, demanding clarification on the volume of crude lifted, outstanding balances and the use of upfront payments.
Speaking during an interview on Arise TV on Sunday, Ambakederimo expressed concern over the monitoring of crude oil transactions, questioning who was responsible for tracking deliveries and providing feedback on the arrangements.
“We don’t even know who is monitoring and giving us the feedback of the barrels of crude that have been lifted on forward sales basis,” he said.
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He challenged the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) to provide details of the transactions, including the quantity of crude already lifted, the outstanding balance and whether the agreed deliveries had been completed.
“Today, can we get this from NNPC? How much have they lifted? What is the balance remaining? Have they been completed?” he asked.
Ambakederimo also questioned how the money collected upfront under the arrangements had been spent, demanding an explanation of its use.
“That money that was collected upfront, what was the use of the money? Can you justify it?” he asked.
He argued that Nigeria should make better use of its natural resources to accelerate infrastructure development and improve living conditions.
Citing land reclamation projects in the United Arab Emirates, Ambakederimo said Nigeria could explore similar opportunities to create additional land for residential and other developments.
He recalled seeing a signpost while travelling from Dubai to Abu Dhabi describing a project to reclaim land from the sea, using the example to highlight the development possibilities he believes Nigeria could explore.
The South-South Reawakening Group convener also argued that Nigeria could reclaim land in suitable areas, provided environmental concerns were properly managed.
He called for the country to translate its natural resource wealth into infrastructure and improved living conditions, stressing the need for greater accountability in crude oil transactions.
Oil output from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) rose to record levels in September, underscoring its resilience even amidst the Middle East crises and liberation from OPEC+ limits.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) issued the data in its monthly report, adding that Abu Dhabi raised total oil production, including condensates, by 400,000 bpd to 5.3 MMbpd.
According to the IEA, the UAE bolstered crude output to more than 4.4 MMbpd, nearing its maximum capacity, which surpasses the previous highs for total oil in August, and crude oil in June.
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The UAE has been one of the most successful among regional producers in restoring flows through the Strait of Hormuz, by drawing on a fleet of tankers to discreetly shuttle cargoes through the chokepoint and then transfer them onto other vessels. In addition, the country’s decision to leave the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) as of May has freed it from the group’s output caps, a source of frustration for years.
Its gains contributed to a wider recovery in flows from Gulf producers, which reached more than 75% of pre-war levels in September, led by Saudi Arabia, according to the Paris-based IEA.
Still, it’s unclear how far the regional rebound has withstood a new wave of Iranian attacks on tankers transiting Hormuz, and escalating hostilities carried out by the Houthi rebel faction in Yemen.
The UAE depleted its observable above-ground inventories at a record pace of more than 270,000 bpd in September, drawing them to an all-time low, according to the IEA.
Africa’s gas potential and strengthening the continent’s energy security would take centre stage at the Africa Interviews Sustainability Forum (AISF 2026) scheduled for Wednesday, October 21, in Lagos.
Biztellers reports that top officials of Oando Plc and Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited, Ayotola Jagun and Tony Attah, respectively, will be leading other industry leaders in the discussion.
Jagun, Oando’s Executive Director, Chief Corporate Services and Sustainability Officer, and Attah, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited, will participate in a panel discussion alongside Lamé Verre of Lean In Equity & Sustainability (LiNES) and Dapo Filani, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Waltersmith.
The panel will examine Africa’s energy security and the role of natural gas in the continent’s energy transition.
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The forum, launched in 2024, is holding its third edition under the theme, “Energy Security and Africa’s Energy Transition: Defining the Role of Gas.”
This year’s gathering will explore how African countries can strengthen energy security, attract investment in gas development and balance growing energy demand with sustainability objectives.
Verre, a London-based energy and sustainability executive, is Co-founder and Chair of the Advisory Board of LiNES. She will bring her international experience in sustainability, decarbonisation and low-carbon development to the discussion. Her work spans low-carbon initiatives across sectors, including marine, the built environment, forestry, land and agriculture.
Jagun brings extensive experience in corporate governance, regulatory compliance, enterprise risk management and sustainability. Her contribution will provide a corporate sustainability and governance perspective on the relationship between energy development, environmental responsibility and Africa’s transition priorities.
Attah, a former Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria LNG Limited, has extensive experience in the oil and gas industry, particularly in natural gas development and major energy operations.
Filani leads Waltersmith, an indigenous Nigerian energy company with interests across the oil and gas value chain. His participation will highlight the role of indigenous energy companies in strengthening domestic energy capacity and supporting economic development.
The panel will consider what is required to unlock greater investment in Africa’s gas sector, how natural gas can support industrial growth while advancing sustainability, and what practical measures could help translate the continent’s energy ambitions into tangible outcomes.
Beyond the panel discussion, AISF 2026 will provide opportunities for engagement among senior energy executives, policymakers, investors and business leaders.
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