ExxonMobil’s Nigerian subsidiary has deployed the Noble Gerry de Souza ultra-deepwater drillship to launch the $1 billion Usan Infill Project in Oil Mining Lease 138. The short-cycle campaign aims to add up to 40,000 barrels per day of incremental oil production within 18 months, revitalizing output from the mature offshore field.
International oil majors have spent years quietly retreating from Nigeria’s complex onshore basins, weighed down by persistent security challenges, pipeline theft, and disputes over contract terms. Now, a major deepwater push is rewriting that narrative. ExxonMobil and its joint-venture partners have officially greenlit a $1 billion investment in the offshore Usan field, signaling a calculated return to intensive drilling in Nigerian waters.
Deploying the Noble Gerry de Souza for Short-Cycle Production
The centerpiece of this offshore revival is the Noble Gerry de Souza, an ultra-deepwater drillship that has arrived on location to execute the Usan Infill Project. Operated by Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Offshore East) Limited, the campaign targets production-sharing contract acreage inside Oil Mining Lease 138, situated roughly 43.5 miles offshore in the eastern Niger Delta.
Unlike greenfield developments that require massive upfront construction and years of lead time, this infill drilling strategy leans entirely on existing infrastructure installed since the field first came on stream in 2012. By drilling new wells directly into the established subsea network of manifolds and export lines, the operator expects to accelerate timelines significantly.
“The arrival of the Noble Gerry de Souza marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for the Usan Field and reflects our continued focus on delivering short cycle deepwater production growth through disciplined investment, in deploying technologies and through operational excellence,”
Jagir Baxi, Chairman and Managing Director of ExxonMobil’s Nigerian affiliates
The first new oil is expected to flow within 18 months after seismic data identifies the drilling targets, while total peak production gains of 40,000 barrels per day are slated for realization within an 18-month window.
Regulatory Alignment and the OML 138 Partnership
The final investment decision follows a crucial administrative turning point. That regulatory stability gave the joint-venture partners the fiscal confidence to commit fresh capital.
Esso operates the block under a production-sharing contract with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd). The venture also includes major global energy players: Chevron, TotalEnergies, and Nexen, a wholly owned subsidiary of SPE.
Nigerian regulators have welcomed the move as proof that legislative reforms are working.
“another significant milestone in Nigeria’s continuing efforts to deepen investments in the upstream petroleum sector, accelerate exploration, expand the nation’s hydrocarbon reserves, and create long-term value for the Nigerian economy.”
Chief Executive, NUPRC
The campaign marks ExxonMobil’s return to active drilling at the field in a decade. Alongside the Usan announcement, the NUPRC distributed petroleum prospecting licenses to winners from recent licensing rounds, including Broron Energy, Petroli Energy Marketing and Supply, Sahara Deepwater Resources, and Tulcan Energy E&P Co.
Broader Deepwater Ambitions in the Gulf of Guinea
The Usan Infill Project sits within a much larger corporate realignment. In April, Hunter Farris, ExxonMobil’s senior vice president for deepwater, briefed regulators on a series of multibillion-dollar proposals designed to revitalize the company’s presence in West Africa. Farris explicitly told the NUPRC that the company was ready to renew our vows to Nigeria
and confirmed that the firm was getting back in business (in Nigeria), and we’re serious about what we’re doing
.
Those discussions included life-extension work on the Erha floating production, storage, and offloading unit in OML 133, as well as plans for the massive $7 billion to $8 billion Owowo project, which could reach a final investment decision as early as next year.
For Nigeria, Africa’s largest crude producer, these short-cycle deepwater additions carry immediate macroeconomic stakes. Chronic production under-delivery—driven by infrastructure bottlenecks and security issues—has historically constrained national revenues. By securing fast-turnaround barrels from offshore assets like Usan, operators hope to bolster national export quotas, shore up foreign exchange reserves, and provide a steady template for maximizing mature reserves before global capital shifts permanently elsewhere.
