Oil
ExxonMobil to Invest $1.5 Billion to Revive USAN field in Nigeria
ExxonMobil announced plans to invest $1.5 billion to further develop Nigeria’s USAN deepwater oil field.
The energy giant declared this during a meeting on May 6 with Gbenga Komolafe. He heads the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Nigeria’s upstream regulator.
ExxonMobil’s Managing Director in Nigeria noted other planned investments to develop the Owowo and Erha deep water fields.
The planned capital deployment from Q2 2025 to 2027 will mainly focus on rejuvenating production at the USAN deepwater oilfield.
Discovered in 2002 and granted development approval in 2008, USAN commenced production in 2012.
ExxonMobil expects to reach a final investment decision (FID) on the Usan project in late Q3 2025.
However, it is subject to the approval of the Field Development Plan and partner funding.
Project Overview: Usan Oilfield Development
USAN is a major deepwater field operated by ExxonMobil’s Nigeria deepwater affiliate, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited (Offshore East) (30%).
Other partners include TotalEnergies (20.0%); Nexen, now CNOCC (20.% %); and Chevron Nigeria Limited (30.0%).
The deep water field is located on the key offshore block OML 138 in the eastern Niger Delta, roughly 70 km offshore in water depths ranging from 750 to 850 meters.
Discovered in 2002, the field began production in 2012. Average production topped 65,000 in 2024.
The USAN field comprises over 34 subsea production and injection wells connected to 8 subsea manifolds, tied to a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel with 2 million barrel capacity. The FPSO is the central hub for processing, storage, and offloading crude oil.
ExxonMobil’s $1.5 Billion Expansion Plan in Nigeria
Officially, ExxonMobil is yet to release its plan, the $1.5 billion reinvestment into the USAN deepwater field could be aimed at:
- Developing USAN’s production capacity via the addition of new subsea wells and infrastructure upgrades
- Enhance the efficiency of the USAN FPSO vessel
Strategic Shift to Deepwater
ExxonMobil’s $1.5 billion investment highlights its shift from onshore & shallow water to deep offshore operations. In 2024, the energy supermajor sold its onshore and shallow water assets to Seplat Energy for $1.28 billion.
This decision was primarily driven by persistent issues in the Niger Delta like crude theft, pipeline vandalism, community unrest, and militancy. Although deepwater exploration and production are costly, they offer operational security, being distant from high-risk Niger Delta regions.
ExxonMobil’s shift to deepwater is part of its global plan to streamline its global upstream portfolio by concentrating on high-margin assets (like Guyana, Qatar, and the US).
Project Alignment with Nigeria’s Project 1 Million Barrels
ExxonMobil’s $1.5 billion investment in the USAN deepwater oilfield closely aligns with Nigeria’s “Project 1 Million Barrels” initiative. In October 2024, the federal government, via NUPRC, launched the Project 1 Million Barrels initiative. The initiative’s primary goal is to boost Nigeria’s oil production from the 1.5 million barrels recorded in 2024 to 2.6 million barrels per day by 2026.
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