Five years ago, Heirs Energies took over OML 17, one of Nigeria’s most troubled onshore oil and gas assets, when few believed a turnaround was possible. The asset presented significant complexity, with sharply declining production and an operating environment among the most challenging globally.
Heirs Energies marks its fifth anniversary since taking control of OML 17, leading one of the most consequential indigenous-led turnarounds in Nigeria’s recent energy history.
The company stabilised, re-energised and repositioned a once-distressed brownfield asset into a competitive, compliant and commercially viable operation. And accomplished without new drilling, they succeeded in an environment long characterised by operational risk.
This anniversary reflects a broader shift across the continent, where African-owned and African-led companies are increasingly demonstrating the capacity to manage complex assets at scale.
“It took disciplined execution, technical innovation and stakeholder alignment, but we demonstrated that local operatorship can translate into performance, resilience and long-term value creation,” said CEO of Heirs Energies, Osayande Igiehon, while reflecting on the progress.
Heirs Energies acquired a 45 per cent interest in OML 17 on January 15, 2021 for $1 billion and assumed operatorship on July 1, 2021. The company set out to stabilise operations, restore production and rebuild trust with regulators, lenders, communities and partners.
Safety has been foundational to their efforts. Since inception, OML 17 has operated without lost time injuries or fatalities, supported by an internal safety culture where ‘Everyone is a Safety Officer’, placing responsibility for safe operations across the workforce rather than solely with management.
Operationally, the sustainable turnaround has been striking. Oil production more than doubled, from around 20,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) in 2021 to consistently exceeding 50,000 bopd.
Gas production also more than doubled, increasing from less than 50 million cubic feet per day (mmscfd) to over 120 mmscfd. Consequently, electricity generation has more than tripled, rising from 100 megawatts to over 325 megawatts.
Impressively, production gains rose without new drilling or facility build-outs. Instead, the company optimised existing assets under its ‘Brownfield Excellence’ approach.
This strategy led to the reactivation of about 100 dormant wells and enabled the operation of pumps that are more than 65 years old at over 85 per cent uptime.
Igiehon also highlighted Heirs Energies’ role in catalysing a coordinated response to crude oil theft, a longstanding challenge in onshore Nigeria, noting that terminal delivery rates, which had fallen to as low as three per cent in December 2021, have since recovered to over 95 per cent as of 2025.
“We have delivered the highest oil production increase among Nigerian operators between 2020 and 2024 and are ranked among the country’s three lowest-cost operators,” added Igiehon.
“Financial discipline has also been central to our strategy. We have consistently met all lender requirements since inception, enabling a $750 million refinancing completed with Afreximbank.”
Beyond OML 17, Heirs Energies expanded in late 2025 through the acquisition of a 20 per cent equity stake in Seplat Energy Limited, positioning it as the company’s largest single shareholder.
The company operates with a fully Nigerian workforce, which delivers top-quartile technical and operational performance.
Heirs Energies’ five-year mark also points to the long-term strategy behind the acquisition of OML 17, led by chairman, Mr Tony O. Elumelu, CFR.
The transaction laid the basis for the company’s operational reset in the asset and serves as a practical expression of Elumelu’s Africapitalism philosophy, which advocates African leadership in building commercially viable enterprises with wider social and national impact.
