Following ExxonMobil’s historic $1.28 billion divestment of its shallow-water business to Seplat Energy in December 2024, the company has officially rebranded its Nigerian operations as Esso Nigeria.
At the Nigeria International Energy Summit (NIES) 2026, Managing Director Jagir Baxi unveiled a strategy designed to transform Nigeria into a “next-generation deepwater hub,” mirroring the company’s success in Guyana and Angola.
Central to this pivot is a laser focus on high-yield, technically complex offshore assets where ExxonMobil’s global expertise offers a competitive edge over smaller indigenous players.
“Our ambition is to bring the very best of ExxonMobil’s global deepwater expertise and investment capability to Nigeria. If you look at our track record in Guyana – where we now have eight deepwater developments either producing or moving through various stages of development – that is the benchmark we hold ourselves to. We want Nigeria to be the next chapter in that story. What that means in practical terms is delivering value faster and at lower cost, just as we’ve demonstrated in Guyana,” according to Jagir Baxi, managing director of Esso Nigeria, in an interview with The Energy Year.
The Growth Spear: Usan and Owowo
Esso Nigeria’s strategy is built on a “hub-and-spoke” model, using existing infrastructure to unlock nearby “stranded” resources. According to Baxi:
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Usan Redevelopment ($1 Billion): Esso is moving ahead with a major brownfield project at the Usan field (OML 138). A Final Investment Decision (FID) is planned for early 2026, aimed at adding 30,000–40,000 barrels per day (bpd) of new production by 2027.
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Owowo Field: Described by Baxi as the “tip of the spear,” Owowo is a technically mature discovery located adjacent to the Usan FPSO. Esso is leveraging recent Presidential Directives to fast-track its development as a subsea tie-back.
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Well Intervention Success: A 2024/2025 campaign across Usan and Erha has already successfully restored approximately 10,000 bpd to Nigeria’s national output.
The Impact of Presidential Directives
Baxi noted that the 2024-2025 Presidential Directives have fundamentally changed the math for deepwater projects in Nigeria:
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Contracting Speed: The directives aim to slash the contracting cycle—historically 4–6 times longer than global averages—down to just six months.
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Fiscal Clarity: For projects like Bonga Southwest, the government’s new incentives for high-cost deepwater operations are making these assets more “bankable” within ExxonMobil’s global capital allocation framework.
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The “Guidance” Gap: While bullish, Baxi warned that investors still await “codified implementation guidance” to ensure these reforms aren’t eroded by future administrative changes.
Decarbonization and the Gas Bridge
Esso’s 2026 strategy also emphasizes a “cleaner” production footprint to align with ExxonMobil’s 2050 Net-Zero ambition:
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Emissions Reduction: The company’s Nigerian footprint is already 35% lower than it was during the Paris Agreement, primarily through aggressive flare reduction.
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Deepwater Gas: Esso is exploring ways to commercialize massive untapped gas reserves in its deepwater blocks to provide a cleaner fuel source for Nigeria’s domestic power sector, replacing more carbon-intensive liquid fuels.
“Esso Nigeria alone could unlock eight to ten years of sustained development activity. And if similar conditions are extended to other undeveloped deepwater blocks, Nigeria has the potential to reset the entire deepwater landscape, much like what we’ve seen happen in other successful jurisdictions like Angola,” Baxi said.
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