The Chief Executive Officer of Kenyon International, Victor Ekpenyong, has pledged to assist Nigeria in reviving its numerous dormant oil wells and overcoming persistent pipeline vandalism to boost crude output and achieve energy stability.
Ekpenyong spoke in Lagos during the recent celebration of Kenyon International’s 10th anniversary, where he reflected on the company’s growth since its inauguration in 2015.
He said the indigenous oilfield services firm had contributed to stabilising production at a time the country was struggling with declining output, saying it would achieve more in the next decade.
“In the next 10 years, we’ll see how we should be part and parcel of the companies that will deploy innovation to bring back our wells that are dead, to revive the wells that we cannot evacuate.
There are a lot of wells that have been drilled, but we don’t have the means of evacuation. Most of the pipelines have been vandalised. So, in the next decade, we will innovate to bring in pipelines that are more flexible and quick to connect from the wellhead to the flow station, instead of wasting a lot of time before oil can flow again,” he stated.
He stressed that tackling this challenge was essential if Nigeria was to move crude production from the present 1.5 million barrels per day towards three million barrels daily in the coming decade.
According to him, Kenyon International intends to play a frontline role in the recovery of “dead wells” and the deployment of technology that will reduce losses.
“In the next 10 years we’ll see what we can also do to boost Nigerian production from where it is today to over three million barrels of oil per day,” he said.
Ekpenyong also linked Nigeria’s relative exchange rate stability to consistent oil output, expressing delight that the company contributed to this feat.
“It calls for celebration that a company we started ten years ago has become a critical component of that surge in production,” he said.
The CEO noted that the next decade will be defined by global pressure for decarbonisation and energy transition, stressing the need for Nigeria to balance innovation with sustainability.
He also pointed to the opportunities presented by the Dangote refinery and other domestic processors, urging the country to fully capture the hydrocarbon value chain rather than remain dependent on exports.
“Refineries are springing up, and we want to enjoy the complete value chain. The value chain of hydrocarbon, the value chain of petroleum. For now, for the past decades, we have been a company or a country that exports hydrocarbons, and we see what is going on in the industry today, Dangote bringing in a refinery that is processing hydrocarbons, and from there we have other byproducts of petroleum and by so doing boost the Nigerian economy,” he added.
The event was attended by dignitaries within and outside the energy sector.
