Seplat Energy Plc has announced the discovery of an estimated 157 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas and 19 million barrels of oil in place at its Aku-01 exploration well in Nigeria, raising prospects for increased hydrocarbon production and future revenue.
The discovery, made after the end of September 2026, was disclosed by the indigenous energy company in its unaudited financial results for the nine months ended September 30, 2026, released on Thursday, October 29.
The company said preliminary internal estimates indicated a mid-case gas resource of 157 Bcf and an oil resource of 19 million barrels in place.
It described the oil discovery as unexpected, noting that the original exploration programme had been designed primarily to target natural gas.
‘Post period end, the Company successfully discovered oil and gas in the Aku-01 exploration well. Preliminary internal estimates indicate a mid-case gas-in-place resource of 157 Bcf and oil-in-place resource of 19 MMbbls. Encouragingly, an oil discovery was not part of the original well plan,’ Seplat stated.
The company, however, said further evaluation would be required to establish the commercially recoverable volumes from the discovery.
Seplat disclosed that work was ongoing to complete the exploration well for potential future production, with plans to connect it to existing infrastructure to accelerate the commercial development of the resources.
It added that the discovery had reduced exploration uncertainty across four neighbouring prospects within the licence area, paving the way for another exploration well in the Aku area in 2027.
Seplat holds a 40 per cent operated interest in Petroleum Prospecting Licence (PPL) 2A25, where the discovery was made.
The development comes amid improved operational and financial performance by the company, which reported a pre-tax profit of N1.34 trillion during the nine-month period, representing a 52.75 per cent increase from N878.99 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2025.
Revenue rose to N3.78 trillion from N3.36 trillion, while profit after tax increased to N355.6 billion from N146.6 billion in the preceding year.
On the operational front, Seplat’s average daily working-interest crude oil and condensate production increased by 1.4 per cent to 103,173 barrels per day (bopd) in the first nine months of 2026, compared with 101,793 bopd in the corresponding period of 2025.
The figure was also higher than the 99,518 bopd recorded in the first half of the year.
Natural gas production averaged 194.9 million standard cubic feet per day (MMscfd), representing an 11.6 per cent increase from 174.7 MMscfd recorded in the corresponding period of 2025.
This was also above the 182.9 MMscfd achieved in the first half of 2026.
Similarly, natural gas liquids (NGL) production more than doubled to 8,222 bopd from 3,719 bopd in the corresponding period of 2025, representing an increase of approximately 121 per cent.
However, the figure was slightly below the 8,459 bopd recorded in the first half of the year.
Overall, Seplat’s combined working-interest production averaged 144,999 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), representing a seven per cent increase from 135,636 boepd in the corresponding period of 2025.
Reflecting its financial performance, Seplat declared a third-quarter dividend of 19 US cents per share, comprising a core dividend of five cents and a special dividend of 14 cents.
The declaration brings the company’s cumulative dividends for the first nine months of 2026 to 40 US cents per share.
Seplat also retained its full-year underlying dividend guidance of $270 million, equivalent to 45 US cents per share.
In addition, the company plans to distribute approximately $140 million to shareholders following the anticipated completion of the sale of a 10 per cent interest in its NNPCL-SEPNU joint venture to NNPC Limited.
If completed as planned, the transaction would take the company’s expected total dividend distributions for 2026 to approximately $410 million.
Meanwhile, Seplat Energy’s shares closed unchanged at N16,000.10 on October 28, 2026, its all-time high, with 57,476 shares traded against 9,884 shares in the previous trading session.
The stock has appreciated by approximately 175 per cent year-to-date from its opening price of N5,809.