Seplat Energy Plc has recorded unprecedented growth since it was founded by acquiring divested assets, unlocking value from them, improving the efficiency and safety performance of the assets, whilst driving the entire growth process with a world-class and resilient workforce.
Chief Executive Officer, Seplat Energy, Roger Brown, said this at the 2025 Africa Energy Week (AEW) Conference and Exhibition in Cape Town, South Africa.
Brown, who spoke during a Fireside Chat titled ‘Assets Acquisition Success Strategies: Seplat Energy’, said the company has successfully integrated major acquisitions in the last decade, each time improving efficiency and safety performance, while at the same time reducing routine emissions.
Speaking on its most recent acquisition of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited assets, he said the goal had been to move quickly to re-engage wells and facilities – resulting in the delivery of immediate results; investing early in integrity and reliability – thus reducing downtime while setting a foundation for future growth; and integrating not just systems, but people.
“We found strong cultural alignment with our new colleagues, and that’s been key to seamless performance. We’ve welcomed their expertise and insights and the entire Group is benefiting from them,” Brown hinted.
According to the Seplat CEO, by combining Seplat’s onshore experience with decades of offshore know-how from new colleagues, the company has built a stronger operation from day one, which is already delivering higher cash flow.
Speaking o the company strong operator mindset, Brown said Seplat Energy focused on acquiring assets where its operating capability can unlock hidden value – especially mature fields that benefit from a more agile, entrepreneurial operator, stressing that: “We’ve already proven we can acquire assets onshore and bring them up to high levels of production, whilst keeping tight control of costs, and this has helped us build up a strong balance sheet, invest in our future and return a healthy dividend stream to investors.”
On the company’s clear appetite for success, the Seplat Energy boss said the focus had always been on safety and operational excellence, which are targeted at maximising production and cash flows that strengthen the business.
In the same vein, Eleanor Adaralegbe, Chief Financial Officer, Seplat Energy Plc, who spoke during a panel discussion titled Financing Upstream Projects for Domestic Energy Security’, said since inception, the company has continued to blaze the trail with a highly successful capital raising history; of which the company had raised more than $4bn in debt to develop and grow operations whilst continuing to maintain a low leverage threshold of below 1.5x through the cycle.
On the various financing options the company had leveraged since inception, Adaralegbe identified the Initial Public Offer (IPO), Revolving Credit Facility (RCF), Bonds, Advance Payment Facility, as well as other financings like taking over the $110m RBL, which is currently being refinanced (on Eland acquisition of 2019; and putting in place a $320m project financing for ANOH, Seplat’s 50/50 JV with the Nigerian Gas Infrastructure Company (a 100% wholly owned subsidiary of NNPC).
Speaking on financing challenges and what Seplat Energy had done to overcome them, she said: “Corporations are always looking to access low-cost financing for development and growth, more so, Nigerian energy companies, as Nigerian banks have a high USD cost of borrowing. As such, we knew that we had to become a first mover and shape our credit profile to appeal to a wider group of banks and investors. We are the first and only dual-listed Nigerian oil and gas company.”
On the importance of financing, she said Nigeria’s energy security depended heavily on upstream oil and gas, which fuels both domestic consumption and foreign exchange earnings; declining investment in upstream projects due to global energy transition pressures and perceived risks; and rising domestic demand for gas and power requires urgent expansion of upstream activity, particularly gas exploration and production.
“Until utility-scale renewables, storage, and transmission are materially larger, Nigeria’s ability to keep lights on, vehicles moving, industries running, and households cooking cleanly is fundamentally constrained by upstream oil and gas development, output and associated midstream delivery – that is, upstream development is a direct lever on national energy security,” she advised.
According to Adaralegbe, a stable and predictable fiscal framework is the single most powerful enabler of upstream financing, of which consistent application of PIA provisions, timely JV cash-call settlements, and clarity on commodity pricing policies are essential to de-risk projects and crowd in long-term capital.
