Ekulama-16L: How a 30-Year Old Well Found Its Second Life

Earlier this year, Newcross Exploration & Production successfully reworked and restored Ekulama-12. That well had been shut in for over 20 years, yet it returned to steady production through careful diagnostics and disciplined execution. That success became a springboard…

… which brought us to Ekulama-16L.

Inactive since 1993, the well had remained on our radar. In 2024, fresh diagnostics revealed an attic of oil within the K3000D sand. It was technically viable and well worth pursuing.

In March 2025, we carried out a successful through-tubing perforation extension operation to restore the well. A surface test followed, with multiple choke sizes confirming strong flow potential. The result was an output of over 800 barrels of oil per day (BPOD), significantly higher than the 500 BOPD target set at the start of the project.

By May, flowlines were installed, and the well was tied back to the Ekulama/2 Flow Station. It returned to the network after more than 30 years.

The successful restoration of Ekulama-16L is proof that strategy, data and restraint can unlock performance in places many would ignore. Because when you know where to look, even a quiet well can still speak.

RADA-AMS: Energy and Innovation for the 21st Century

RADA-AMS: Energy and Innovation for the 21st Century

The Asset Management Solution (AMS) developed by our Research and Data Analytics (RADA) team is poised to advance oil and gas operations.
The RADA-AMS was created to optimize the use of technology and data in decision-making. This is achieved by integrating data acquisition and analytics across the organization.

Traditional asset management processes for most E&P players are often hampered by information asymmetry, multiple sources of truth, a lack of data integration, and long data-to-insight cycles, leading to missed opportunities and inefficiencies.

This will represent by traditional spreadsheet-based workflows which E&P asset management teams must ditch for digital frameworks to keep pace with the increasing need for operational efficiency and greater value creation.

RADA AMS addresses these challenges. This cutting-edge digital solution streamlines asset management workflows, ensures near real-time data democratization and accuracy, and enhances data-driven decision-making.
This allows the creation or modification of existing business processes, culture, and customer experiences to meet evolving business and market demands. RADA’s vision is to reimagine operations by building a data-driven organization.

Newcross Petroleum Limited and  NewcrossEP Companies are leading Nigerian E & P companies. One of the core values driving our success is innovation, amply demonstrated by RADA-AMS. This solution offers Digital transformation—business process re-engineering through digital technologies— and it’s crucial for achieving operational excellence.

OML 152 achieves 3M LTI

We’re proud to celebrate a major achievement on OML 152—our PSC partnership with NNPC Ltd and Rayflosh.

As of June 9, 2025, we have recorded 3 million manhours without a Lost Time Incident (LTI) across our operations.

In an industry where safety is non-negotiable, this milestone reflects the resilience of our workforce, the strength of our operational discipline, and the depth of our SafetyFIRST culture.

This achievement is made possible by:

  • The dedication of our employees
  • The steadfast support of our PSC partners, NNPC Ltd and Rayflosh
  • The collaboration of our regulators and host communities
  • The world-class professionalism of our contractors and service providers

To the team at OML 152— You did it!