Firm revives idle $28m oil rig after eight years

Indigenous oil firm Nestoil Group has successfully deployed its Pathfinder 500 drilling rig for the first time in eight years, completing workover operations on two producing wells in Oil Mining Lease 42. The workover campaign, carried out by Scorpio Drilling International, was completed without any health, safety and environmental incidents, resulting in incremental oil production.

Nestoil acquired the Pathfinder 500 and a second rig, the Scorpio 300, for a combined cost of approximately $28 million. The deployment of the rig is seen as a major milestone for the company, demonstrating Nigeria's growing indigenous drilling capacity and boosting efforts to raise oil production from the Niger Delta asset.