By Sam Otuonye

Seplat Energy Plc, one of Nigeria’s leading indigenous energy companies, 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, even as it declared N1.3 trillion revenue in nine months

The discovery, which occurred after the end of September 2026, was disclosed by the company on Thursday, October 29, in its unaudited financial results for the nine months ended September 30, 2026.

The development comes as Seplat Energy reported a pre-tax profit of N1.34 trillion during the period, representing an increase of 52.75% from N878.99 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2025.

Seplat disclosed that the oil discovery at Aku-01 was unexpected, as the original exploration programme did not anticipate finding crude oil alongside natural gas.

According to the company, preliminary assessments of the well have identified substantial hydrocarbon resources, although further evaluation will be required to determine the commercially recoverable volumes.

“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,” the company stated.

Seplat explained that work is underway to complete the exploration well for potential future production, with plans to connect it to existing infrastructure to facilitate early commercial development of the discovered resources.