The Chief Executive Officer of Heirs Energies, Osa Igiehon, has disclosed that the company successfully restarted a well that had been shut down for 37 years, describing it as a defining example of the firm’s resilience and tenacity.
Speaking at a media briefing in Lagos, Igiehon said the previous operator of the well could not operate it for over three decades, saying it took Heirs Energies another four years to revive the well located in the Niger Delta. “There is a well we just started last week. This well has been down for 37 years. For several reasons, the previous operator could not restart it. And we have been trying to restart it for four years. We started it last week.”
He explained that the challenges were not technical but stemmed from social and security issues that had long prevented the restart. “There were community issues, challenging issues, and security issues. But we started it up, and it’s producing very well. There was nothing wrong with the well technically. It was all the approved ground issues. And we have dealt with all those issues.
“We have confronted all the myths and disproved them in onshore Nigeria. That’s just the kind of company we are. That grit and that tenacity are what define who we are, the company we want to be. We are a company that takes action, that takes hold, that moves forward and is not constantly retreating,” Igiehon added.
Igiehon recalled how the company ramped production by 100 per cent in 100 days by revamping about 30 idle wells. “I just want to add that the simple thing was that when we came in, there were up to 40 wells producing. In 100 days, we reactivated another 30 wells. So, we almost doubled the number of wells producing in 100 days. It was a very focused programme. And it was enabled by our highly experienced staff and the good relationship with the community,” he said.
The CEO maintained that the onshore is becoming attractive to other investors because of the feats Heirs Energies has achieved so far. He boasted that the company is 100 per cent Nigerian.
“We are changing the narrative of what people used to think about Nigeria. So, when you tell people that an asset onshore gets close to 100 per cent of its volume, people are like, ‘Really?’
“All we used to think about was offshore Nigeria before it was rescripted. So, it’s also helping change that narrative, and the fact is that we have done this with a 100 per cent Nigerian workforce. Our whole organisation, I’m sure you know, is 100 per cent Nigerian. And our contractors are 95 per cent indigenous,” he said.
