Energia Drills 2 Successful Oil Wells in Niger Delta

Energia Hits Paydirt with 2 Niger Delta Oil Wells

Energia has finished drilling two oil wells in the Niger Delta...

Matpatson Petroleum Services completes drilling of two oil wells for Energia Petroleum in Niger Delta, highlights importance of turnkey drilling services and novel approach to well drilling and completion.

Matpatson Petroleum Services is a business that provides full turnkey drilling and associated services, with a focus on well engineering and the acquisition of drilling equipment. They effectively drilled two consecutive wells for Energia Petroleum, a Nigerian marginal field operator, in the Ebendo field, which is situated onshore in the Western Niger Delta, at the beginning of 2023.

Olubukola Okulaja, Managing Director of Matpatson, and Olumide Ilesanmi, Drilling Project Manager, discussed the rising need for turnkey drilling services in Nigeria during an interview with Africa Oil + Gas Report. They emphasized the importance of finishing wells on time and within budget, emphasizing the benefits this offers to both their clients and the industry at large.

They disclosed that, on a turnkey basis, they had effectively finished one exploration well and one appraisal/development well for Energia Petroleum in their Ebendo field, which is situated in Oil Mining Lease (OML 56).

“The concept of contracting well drilling on a turnkey basis is not entirely new in the industry,” they said. 

“Typically, the operator provides everything except for the actual drilling. However, we have advanced beyond that we drill the well and supply all necessary resources. We also offer additional services, such as open-hole logging, which we arrange with other contractors. Essentially, the client provides the coordinates, we design the well, and they approve the design. We then write the program, they approve it, and we proceed with the execution.”

They added, “Clients have someone overseeing our work to ensure it aligns with our agreement. Achieving this level of service didn't happen overnight for Matpatson. Our mission and vision statement, established in 2007, has guided us to this point.”

Okulaja and Ilesanmi revealed that Energia intended to drill in 2022 and had put out a tender for a rig while talking about the exploration and appraisal work they completed for Energia on the Ebendo field. Matpatson Petroleum Services made contact with them with the goal of offering all required services.

The rig and all other necessary resources were provided by Matpatson Petroleum Services, according to Okulaja and Ilesanmi.

They continued, “Although we completed two wells in this project, we have the capacity to drill five wells consecutively. If we receive a contract today, we don't need to order anything. We have tubing, casing accessories, wellheads, and completion accessories readily available in our Port Harcourt warehouse.

“We also have a pipe yard here in Lagos because it was easier at one point to move supplies from here to the Warri zone rather than from Port Harcourt due to poor road conditions. We currently have pipes for about four wells here in Lagos and enough for five wells in Port Harcourt, along with tubing and casing.”

They clarified that they paid top service providers what they paid them for the e-logging services, which were managed by senior Subject Matter Experts.

“We actually have a contract with these companies for such services. However, we complete the wells ourselves. This involves providing full oil field services, which places all responsibility-both risks and benefits-on us as the turnkey contractor.”

They elaborated, “If you do your job well and have competent personnel, the risks are minimized. That's what sets us apart from others.”

Okulaja and Ilesanmi made the following observation on the Energia project on the Ebendo field: “If you handled the completion for them, you should be aware of their current production.” Off the record, their productivity has more than doubled even though they haven't yet operated their flow line.

They acknowledged that the production of the project was more than 5,000 barrels of oil per day (BOPD) at the time the wells were opened. The drilling and performance by Matpatson Petroleum Services really satisfied Energia Petroleum representatives.

“We completed the job and handed over the wells to them on December 31, 2022.“

Turnkey projects are not a novel idea in the petroleum business, but there are certain misconceptions regarding them, they said.

They did, however, stress how novel Matpatson's approach to turnkey services is. Matpatson takes care of the entire process, in contrast to the conventional method, which involves the operator hiring a company to drill a portion of the well, paying for it, and then using other contractors for casing and cementing. They offer a broad range of services, handling all aspect of the well drilling and completion process.

“The traditional turnkey model involved the drilling contractor being asked to drill the second section of the well for a specified number of days, with most competencies retained by the operator,” they explained. “Today, however, the competencies are with us, the drilling contractor, outside the operator's system.”

“If the operator lacks expertise, they can hire a consultant to review our work. We possess all the necessary competencies, not just in drilling. Our unique approach ensures that for every critical item, we have a subject matter expert. Drillin course, falls under our umbrella.”

Project manager Ilesanmi of Matpatson Petroleum Services, General Manager of Engineering and Projects, oversaw the work on the Ebendo field.

Okulaja and Ilesanmi discussed the specialized Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) they hired for the project. They disclosed that, for the open-hole wireline activities, they hired a 25-year-old former Schlumberger employee. They hired a specialist for well testing who had spent twenty years working with Halliburton.

“For mud engineering, we have someone like Dr. Victor Maduka overseeing the work.”

Drilling supervisors undertake other jobs, leaving these SMEs in charge of the most important ones, “If your program is well- written and the well is properly engineered, these experts can effectively execute the instructions. We have performed exceptionally well.”

They went on, “We've mentioned SMES, but what about the people below them? Matpatson has a training school where we typically recruit some of our engineers and drilling supervisors from the NYSC program and train them.”

Okulaja and Ilesanmi emphasized Matpatson Petroleum Services' dedication to fostering talent development through its training school, guaranteeing a competent workforce across all levels.