Seplat Energy’s chief executive officer Effiong Okon has provided a strategy for independent energy firms to optimise the value of their assets within the energy sector.
According to Okon, for independent oil and gas players in Nigeria to optimize the value of their assets, boost returns on investments and ensure resilient systems, they must get asset integrity right, fix obsolescence in their operations and consciously work on life extension of their assets.
At a panel session of the 49th Nigeria annual international conference and exhibition (NAICE) of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) in Lagos themed “Building Resilient Energy Systems in a Rapidly Evolving Energy Landscape”, the Seplat Energy chief executive said, critical equipment (of oil and gas companies) must be maintained at top quartile performance of 95 percent.
“When you do all that, you drive down unscheduled deferment. You must follow your oil and gas molecules from reservoir to export. The approach is all-encompassing – you must understand your reservoir capacity, well capacity, your flow line and surface facilities. These mean a total understanding of the asset,” he emphasized.
On how to further reduce cost in operations, he said, effective water treatment, ending routine flares and monetizing every gas molecule, against paying penalties on flares, cutting a few redundancies for evacuation routes, and building capacity around logistics and outsourcing would significantly impact operations.
Latest report by the World Bank Global Gas Flaring Tracker Report, said Nigeria is amongst nine countries responsible for 83 percent of global gas flaring. With eight percent increase in gas flaring volumes,
Nigeria remained seventh among the world’s largest gas-flaring countries in 2025, flaring approximately 9 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas.
The Seplat CEO equally called for deliberate investment in human capital to understand the sub-surface, wells and facilities. According to him, the right knowledge could then be driven by requisite capital raising, which ultimately drive value optimization. He, therefore, called on SPE to raise more engineers to cover the skills gap and drive efficiencies in the Nigerian oil and gas space.
Okon, while speaking on Seplat Energy’s commitment to advancing shareholders’ value, said, the company had returned massive value to shareholders in form of share appreciation and dividend payouts over the year whilst also balancing that with capital allocation targeted at further building the company for the future.
He said the company had distinguished itself in the area of gas development and performance domestically, saying the shallow water business has got about 12TCF of gas, which will be unlocked, accelerated and monetized more than the company had ever done.
“We are indeed trailblazers when it comes to domestic gas development. We are also doing a lot of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) in the domestic market to displace biomass and contribute in addressing carbon intensity issues,” he said.
