A Nigerian drilling contractor has led the pack and four upstream operators are following suit, procuring and deploying 24 rigs owned by themselves on various drilling locations in the country’s Niger Delta basin, with three others looking to contract over five rigs for multi-well drilling campaigns.
This means that 29 more rigs are to be added to the 48 currently deployed in both Niger Delta and the Benue Trough in the short term, representing a significant expansion of drilling capacity in Nigeria’s key oil-producing region.
The drilling service firm Matpatson Service is in the lead. Between July and August 2025, it finalized the importation of an onshore rig rated 22,000 feet depth, which it owns outright. The rig is equipped with a 10,000-psi well control system and 10,000-psi mud system. Matpatson christened it MF101 and promptly deployed it for drilling the Emohua-2 well in EOP Energy operated Petroleum Prospecting Licence 201 in the eastern Niger Delta. The equipment has reportedly performed very well.
Matrix Energy, which started life as a downstream fuel supplier and acquired three upstream assets in the course of the 2020-2022 bid round, has also purchased a land rig. The procurement wave signals growing confidence in Nigeria’s upstream sector and increased domestic participation in oil field services.
Source: africaoilgasreport.com