Petralon pumps second well on Dawes Island, adds 2,800 bpd

Petralon Energy, the indigenous Nigerian upstream operator, has commenced production on its second consecutive well at the Dawes Island Field in the Eastern Niger Delta, bringing DI-3 onstream in roughly five months after its predecessor, a pace that underscores a disciplined drilling cadence unusual among independent operators on the continent.

DI-3 has delivered average incremental production of approximately 2,800 barrels of oil per day (bopd) since coming onstream on 14 March 2026, lifting the field’s combined output to around 4,800 bopd, according to a company statement.

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The result follows the October 2025 startup of DI-2, which marked First Oil for a field Petralon acquired through its subsidiary Petralon 54 in 2021, when the acreage was entirely non-producing.

“Our success at Dawes Island was built on the conviction that Nigerians could acquire, develop, and operate world-class energy assets. That conviction once required courage, today, it stands on proof,” Ahonsi Unuigbe, founder and chief executive officer, Petralon Energy said.

The company says it has exported more than 350,000 barrels from the field to date via the Bonny Oil and Gas Terminal, located approximately 30 kilometres away. DI-3 was completed with zero lost-time incidents, Petralon said, consistent with the company’s stated safety standards.

Dawes Island, situated about 15 kilometres from Port Harcourt, spans roughly 46 square kilometres and holds an estimated 17.6 million barrels of recoverable oil. Petralon 54 holds a 100 percent working interest.

With two producing wells now online, the operator is pressing ahead with a phased development programme that company officials say has only just begun to unlock the field’s reserves base.

The back-to-back well completions place Petralon among a generation of indigenous operators that have moved from licence-holders to active producers amid Nigeria’s broader push to transfer more upstream assets to local companies.

The government’s ongoing divestment programme by international majors has accelerated that shift, creating opportunities for firms willing to commit capital and drilling rigs where larger players have pulled back.

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“The easy thing after DI-2 would have been to pause, but the determination and resilience of every single member of the Petralon team drove us forward, and DI-3 is the result of that effort,” said Unuigbe. “Progress like this is only possible through the strong collaboration we have built with our host communities, our regulator, and our partners. This is only the beginning of what Dawes Island can deliver.”