October 5, (THEWILL) – Seplat Energy’s recent rally reflects the market’s increasing confidence in its capacity to turn strategic investments into production, cash flow and shareholder value. The firm is increasingly demonstrating that in a market where many companies are struggling to translate ambitious expansion plans into tangible results, execution can be a powerful currency.
The latest evidence is on the Nigerian Exchange Limited, where the energy company has emerged as one of the market’s most formidable performers.
On Thursday, September 10, Seplat Energy’s shares rose by the maximum daily limit of 10 per cent, helping the NGX recover from two consecutive sessions of losses. The rally was significant enough to help lift the wider market and restore about N100.5 billion to investors’ wealth.
The performance was not an isolated event. Seplat has repeatedly demonstrated an ability to command investor attention this year. In April, the company became the first stock in the history of the Nigerian Exchange to trade above N10,000 per share, closing at N10,450 on April 14 after a powerful rally. At the time, the stock had gained almost 80 per cent since the beginning of the year. However, the more important story is what sits behind the share-price performance.
Seplat is building an increasingly compelling investment proposition around production growth, gas development, offshore assets, cash generation and capital returns. At the centre of that proposition is a gas strategy that is beginning to move from corporate ambition to physical reality.
ANOH changes the equation
The most important recent milestone is the Assa North-Ohaji South, or ANOH, gas project. The 300 million standard cubic feet per day project achieved first gas in January 2026, marking one of the most important developments in Seplat’s gas portfolio. The project is being developed through ANOH Gas Processing Company in partnership with Renaissance Africa Energy, following the unitisation of the relevant fields.
The milestone was significant because ANOH is not simply another production project. It is part of the infrastructure required to convert Nigeria’s enormous gas resources into commercially useful energy for domestic industry and export markets.
Seplat says the project achieved first gas following completion of an 11-kilometre Indorama gas export pipeline and receipt of the necessary regulatory approvals.
That achievement provides an important explanation for why investors have increasingly attached a premium to Seplat. A company can announce a gas strategy. It can announce reserves. It can announce investment plans. But the real test is whether it can build the infrastructure, achieve first gas, secure customers and progressively increase production.
Seplat has crossed several of those hurdles. The ANOH plant has already demonstrated processed gas production, while the company has indicated that volumes are expected to rise as the facility moves towards its 300 MMscfd design capacity. The company is also preparing to supply processed gas to Nigeria LNG.
This is strategically important because Nigeria’s gas opportunity is enormous, but historically constrained by inadequate processing and evacuation infrastructure. Seplat’s investment therefore sits at the intersection of commercial opportunity and national energy necessity.
From Sapele to ANOH: building a gas platform
ANOH is also not standing alone. Seplat’s gas strategy has been developing across several projects. Its 2025 results highlighted the completion of the Sapele Integrated Gas Plant, while ANOH subsequently achieved first gas in January 2026. The company has also been expanding gas production through its offshore operations.
The Sapele development is important because it demonstrates Seplat’s broader strategy of adding processing capacity rather than relying solely on raw hydrocarbon production.
That distinction matters. For an upstream producer, the ability to process gas, deliver it to customers and develop multiple evacuation routes potentially creates a more resilient revenue stream than simply selling unprocessed hydrocarbons.
It also fits into Nigeria’s urgent need to increase domestic gas availability. Seplat’s own long-term plan is ambitious: the company has said it intends to reach 1 billion standard cubic feet per day of gas production by 2030.
If delivered, that would position the company as one of the most significant private-sector participants in Nigeria’s gas economy. The numbers are beginning to support the story
The operational transformation is being accompanied by strong financial performance.
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Facts in Numbers
Seplat’s audited 2025 results showed group production averaging 131,506 barrels of oil equivalent per day, representing a 148 per cent increase from 52,947 boepd in 2024, largely reflecting the first full year of offshore consolidation.
Onshore production also increased by 14 per cent year-on-year, supported by the Sapele Gas Plant and new well inventory.
More importantly for the gas story, Seplat reported 30 per cent year-on-year growth in gas production, supported by ANOH, the Sapele Integrated Gas Plant and the Oso-BRT development.
The numbers provide evidence that the company’s transformation is not merely being driven by financial engineering or movements in the oil price. There is an expanding physical asset base behind the earnings.
That distinction is important to investors. Strong H1 performance reinforces investor confidence. And the momentum continued into 2026.
According to the company’s H1 2026 reporting, Seplat delivered another strong operating and financial performance. Its financial results for the six months ended June 30, 2026 were released on July 30.
Independent analysis of the H1 numbers put revenue at approximately N2.50 trillion, up 15.5 per cent from N2.17 trillion in H1 2025. Gross profit increased by 49.3 per cent to about N1.12 trillion, while operating profit rose by 50 per cent to approximately N901.7 billion.
Profit before tax increased by about 74 per cent to N790.4 billion, while profit after tax rose more than fivefold to approximately N225.5 billion. These numbers help explain the enthusiasm surrounding the stock.
Investors are not simply buying an oil producer because crude prices happen to be favourable. They are increasingly buying into a company with expanding production, improving margins, a growing gas platform and a strengthened balance sheet.
Gas could become the defining advantage
Perhaps the most important question is what Seplat could look like several years from now. The answer increasingly depends on gas.
Nigeria has vast natural gas reserves but has historically struggled to convert those reserves into reliable electricity, industrial feedstock, domestic cooking fuel and export earnings.
This creates an unusual opportunity for companies capable of integrating upstream production with processing, transportation and commercialisation.
Seplat appears determined to occupy that space.
The company’s stated ambition to grow gas production to 1 Bscfd by 2030 is therefore more than a corporate target. If achieved, it could materially change the company’s earnings profile and reinforce its position as an integrated Nigerian energy champion.
Seplat’s Share Surge as NGX Game Changer
Seplat Energy Plc shares have climbed to an all-time high of N16,000 per share on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) as of September, extending a sharp rally that has seen the stock surge by 175.44 percent year-to-date.
NGX data showed that Seplat closed at N16,000 on September 24, up N1,092.20 or 7.33 percent from its previous trading session. The latest rally has pushed the energy company’s shares to a highest level recorded on the NGX, as investors continue to drive demand for the stock.
The share price performance
Seplat’s latest price surge extends a rally that has significantly lifted the stock’s value since the beginning of 2026.
At the beginning of the year, the stock was trading at N5,809 per share. At N16,000, Seplat has gained 175.44% since the start of the year.
On September 17, Seplat shares climbed to a new record level on the NGX, rising 10 percent in 10 days from N13,552.60 to N14,907.80. That gain of N1,092.20 lifted the stock by 7.33 percent during the September 24 trading session when its shares gained 197.44 percent over the past one year. That exceptional rally pushed the company’s market capitalisation to N9.599 trillion.
Seplat’s latest surge also comes amid an increase in global oil prices, as renewed geopolitical tensions raise concerns about the security of key energy and shipping routes.
The challenge now is execution at scale. ANOH must continue its ramp-up. Gas evacuation constraints must be managed. Oso-BRT must deliver its targeted expansion. New wells must add production. The company must maintain capital discipline.
But if the company continues to convert projects into production and production into cash, its recent NGX performance could prove less a speculative rally than the early market recognition of a much larger corporate transformation.
Sam Diala is a Bloomberg Certified Financial Journalist with over a decade of experience in reporting Business and Economy. He is Business Editor at THEWILL Newspaper, and believes that work, not wishes, creates wealth.
