While other West African nations have captured the spotlight in which Nigeria once basked, news of a fivefold increase in recoverable prospective resources has offshore Nigeria emerging from the shadows.

Independent CAMAC Energy said that an updated assessment of four offshore prospects in oil mining leases 120 and 121 by DeGolyer and MacNaughton now puts the company’s unrisked P50 recoverable resources at 2,377 MMbbl, up from the original assessment of 537 MMbbl. Houston-based CAMAC, which is the operator and has a 100% working interest in the licenses, has pinpointed drilling locations, and technical work is underway in preparation for exploratory drilling.

Targeting the Miocene formation, which CAMAC said has proven to be a prolific oil-producing layer in deepwater Nigeria, crews are set to spud the first exploration well using the Energy Searcher drillship—which received new BOP control hoses following a technical problem—in the first half of 2015.

CAMAC CEO Kase Lawal called the updated resource potential on the prospects “monumental” and “very transformational.”

“Recall that we have been very successful in terms of Miocene based on well number seven that we drilled late last year, so we are not in an unchartered territory,” Lawal said during a media conference call Sept. 30. “We are in territory in a basin where we’ve actually penetrated for the first time last year, and we met with success.”

In November 2013, CAMAC reported that its Oyo-7 well successfully drilled into the Miocene Formation, encountering hydrocarbons in three intervals totaling about 20 m (65 ft) in the Oyo Field, which has water depths ranging from 200 m to 500 m (656 ft to 1,640 ft) about 75 km (46 miles) offshore Nigeria.

The latest assessment ups the combined estimated unrisked recoverable resources for four offshore prospects. Under the best scenario (P50), estimates for the Ereng prospect are 1,585 MMbbl and 58 Bcm (2,086 Bcf) for gas; Ewo Deep, 321 MMbbl and 13 Bcm (455 Bcf); G Prospect, 226 MMbbl and 5 Bcm (184 Bcf); and P Prospect, 245 MMbbl and 6 Bcm (217 Bcf).

Martin Wensrich, exploration manager, said the company is considering drilling the Ereng and G prospects first.

“We are looking for shallow hazards in the area and other obstacles to drilling and also are trying to design the wells for these two prospects,” he said.

In addition, CAMAC is seeking farm-in partners to help share the risks and opportunities, having recently signed up a company to find others that may be interested. However, CAMAC said it has sufficient cash on hand to proceed with the initial exploration wells without a partner.

Lawal also confirmed that the company is looking at other semisubmersible rigs, specifically because one of the prospects is in a depth of water that exceeds the current drillship’s capacity. Energy Searcher is designed for a water depth of 762 m (2,500 ft) with a maximum drilling depth of 7,620 m (25,000 ft), according to Northern Offshore rig specifications.

“The team has spent considerable time developing the regional framework, utilizing the latest in geoscience and enhanced quantitative interpretation techniques, to define these four high-impact prospects with combined unrisked recoverable P50 resources of almost 3 billion barrels of oil equivalent,” Lawal added.

The company cautioned that the prospective resource estimates are just that, saying in the prepared statement, “Investors should not assume there will be any discovery associated with prospective resources or that any discovery will be economically drillable or ever be upgraded into reserves.”

But CAMAC’s confidence is high.

“We are confident that the wealth of experience, the credibility and performance of the team that we have assembled here, and the investment that we have made to attract this level and this caliber of individuals is something that only major companies can have,” Lawal said. “We are confident in our ability to execute and deliver, and we are confident that the market is going to react very positively to what we are trying to do here.”

Meanwhile, work continues at the Oyo-7 and Oyo-8 wells, which Lawal said have been successfully drilled, although there was some difficulty with the control hoses—now repaired—on the drillship’s BOP.

Segun Omidele, senior vice president of E&P for CAMAC, said one of the wells will go onstream by year-end, while the other will go online in January 2015. “We still expect to produce about 7,000 barrels per day from Oyo-8.” Hopes are for Oyo-7 to produce just as much.

CAMAC is targeting both the Pliocene and Miocene reservoirs in the area. The wells will join others being developed with an FPSO vessel.

“Production from these wells will make 2015 the most profitable year in our company’s history and will generate significant revenues, earnings and cash flow,” Lawal said.

Aspirations for striking commercial oil offshore Nigeria come as other international oil companies—including Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Shell—sell interest in both onshore and offshore oil fields amid instability and supply disruptions, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. An overhaul of the country’s Petroleum Industry Bill has become perpetual, having been before legislators since 2008. The country also has suffered from oil theft in recent years.

However, the country’s leaders are seeking to nearly triple its production capacity, specifically gas, by 2020, going from about 120 MMcm (4 Bcf) to 30 MMcm/d (11 Bcf/d),according to a Bloomberg report.

CAMAC Energy also has acreage offshore Gambia, Ghana and Kenya, where it also has onshore assets.

Contact the author, Velda Addison, at vaddison@hartenergy.com. The image of FPSO Armada Perdana is courtesy of Bumi Armada Berhad.