Nigeria’s crude oil production has received a boost of 20,000 to 25,000 barrels per day (bpd) following the resumption of operations at the Yoho Floating,

Storage and Offloading (FSO) platform in Oil Mining Lease (OML) 104, offshore Akwa Ibom State.

The facility, managed by Seplat Producing Nigeria Unlimited under Seplat Energy’s shallow offshore subsidiary, returned online in the third quarter of 2026 after an extensive shut-in caused by a fire in October 2025. The fire severely damaged parts of the platform, forcing an immediate halt to operations and effectively removing about 25,000 bpd of Nigerian output from the market since the incident.

There were no fatalities, largely because staff were attending a work coordination meeting at the time.

Seplat accelerated asset integrity and engineering repair programmes through the first half of 2026, though maintenance ran slightly past initial projections and caused minor volume restrictions earlier in the year. Crews replaced more than 60 kilometres of cabling and carried out close to 400 piping spool replacements during the first quarter, while also front-loading additional planned maintenance originally scheduled for later in the year.

The company maintained its full-year 2026 production guidance of 135,000 to 155,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), supported by Yoho’s return. In its Q2 2026 earnings call, CEO Roger Brown said production averaged just under 140,000 boepd in the first half, with offshore working-interest production increasing by about 20,000 bpd quarter-over-quarter. “April to date production has averaged c.153 kboepd, illustrating the potential of our asset base,” Brown said. “Notably, this is before the return of Yoho... and full ramp-up of ANOH”.

The restored volume directly supports Nigeria’s efforts to sustain its 1.5 million bpd OPEC quota. National crude and condensate output had been fluctuating between 1.5 and 1.68 million bpd, with shortfalls earlier in the year affecting revenue.

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission is prioritising the reactivation of shut-in and dormant assets as part of its push toward a 2.5 million bpd target.

The platform’s return also unlocks infrastructure for Seplat’s Yoho Liquefied Natural Gas export project, developed under a sales pact with UTM Offshore and NNPC. It complements the expanding ANOH Gas Plant and the upcoming Oso-BRT Phase 1 project, which together target 200,000 boepd by 2030.