By Obinna Uballa
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has revoked the operating licence of the Oritsemeyin drilling rig, ordering it to cease operations after completing its ongoing well work, in one of the most far-reaching enforcement actions since the enactment of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021.
The decision, announced Friday in a statement by the Commission’s Head of Media and Strategic Communications, Eniola Akinkuotu, followed what regulators described as “a thorough review” of safety failures during the drilling of the UDIBE-2 wellbore, where a dangerous “kick” was recorded. A kick is the unwanted influx of formation fluids into a wellbore due to a pressure imbalance; if unmanaged, it can escalate into a catastrophic blowout.
“The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission has revoked the operating licence of Oritsemeyin Rig and directed it to cease all operations upon the completion of its current well operations,” the Commission declared in a letter dated September 11, 2025, signed by its Chief Executive, Engineer Gbenga Komolafe.
The Commission explained that the incident caused several days of Non-Productive Time, increased costs, and eventually forced a well sidetrack. It added that the rig operator, Selective Marine Services Limited, had been issued a culpability notice in June and given 21 days to respond, followed by a July reminder, but failed to achieve an amicable resolution.
“Consequent upon the foregoing and pursuant to the relevant powers conferred on the Commission under the extant Petroleum Industry Act 2021, the annual licence to operate granted to Selective Marine Services Limited for the Oritsemeyin Rig is hereby revoked,” the regulator said, stressing that the rig has also been disqualified from all renewal protocols.
NUPRC underlined that the action was necessary to enforce operational safety, preserve environmental standards, and uphold global best practices.
Built alongside its twin, Rig Onome, at a combined cost of $508 million, the Oritsemeyin rig was once a flagship of indigenous capacity in Nigeria’s oil services industry. Operated by Seawolf Oil Services – a firm established in 2007 by Adolor Uwamu and Remi Okunlola – both rigs were allegedly financed largely through loans from First Bank. When Seawolf reportedly defaulted on debts exceeding N100 billion, the rigs were seized by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) in 2011 as part of the banking sector clean-up.
For years, the hulking assets sat idle at Lagos Marina, as AMCON struggled to attract buyers. In 2019, the corporation finally announced it had secured an operator for Oritsemeyin, confirming that the rig was deployed to Brittania-U’s Ajapa oilfield in Delta State under the management of Selective Marine Oil & Gas Company Limited. Rig Onome, however, remained stranded in Lagos.
At the time, AMCON spokesperson Jude Nwauzor emphasised that the rigs were meant to be converted to cash to recover loans, not to remain long-term state assets. “Every asset AMCON has is for sale. AMCON is not in the business of running businesses,” he said.
But if AMCON’s intervention kept the rig afloat commercially, its labour relations soon dragged it into another problem. In November 2024, the Oritsemeyin rig was at the centre of a national crisis after soldiers reportedly stormed the facility to eject oil workers affiliated with the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG).
The incident, which unions described as a militarisation of workplace disputes, nearly triggered a nationwide strike. The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) both condemned the military involvement, warning that it amounted to “abuse of state security powers.”
“NEC-in-Session demands the immediate withdrawal of all forces of invasion now occupying the oil rig, a cessation of further militarization of the nation’s workplaces, and the restoration of the workers who were forcefully ejected from the site,” the NLC said at the time in a communiqué signed by its president, Joe Ajaero.
NUPENG alleged that the ejection followed workers’ insistence on the implementation of severance agreements earlier mediated by the NUPRC and the Department of State Services (DSS), which operators Dutchford E&P and Selective Marine had allegedly ignored.
The Federal Government eventually stepped in, summoning both parties to Abuja to avert a strike that threatened to paralyse Nigeria’s oil sector.
