The Nigerian drilling market is the primary operating area for North China Petroleum Engineering Company in Africa and also the earliest overseas oilfield engineering market it systematically entered. After nearly 20 years of dedicated effort, North China Petroleum Engineering Company has now become one of Nigeria’s leading onshore oil drilling contractors, having provided drilling and workover services to more than ten oil companies, including Shell. Over the past two decades, the company’s construction performance has been widely recognized and repeatedly praised and rewarded by its clients. Among these accolades, the Nigerian Project Department was lauded by SEPLAT’s General Manager as “a world-class operational team” for its outstanding performance during the construction of the OBEN-51 well.

Strengthen the foundation and take the first step into the African market.

In 2004, North China Petroleum Engineering Company turned its attention to the African oil exploration market and successfully won the bid for a drilling project from Shell Nigeria Oil Company in November of the same year. After intense preparatory work, in 2005, North China Petroleum Engineering Company’s first expedition team—Drilling Team 70119—set off across the ocean to Harcourt, Nigeria, a major oil hub in West Africa.

In the early stages of the project, faced with a lack of overseas experience, a series of challenges came flooding in. “Besides having to overcome difficulties in areas such as language and supply, we also encountered significant hurdles—technical barriers, construction experience gaps, and cultural differences—that made progress extremely difficult,” said Cui Shiyuan, who at the time served as the senior driller in the well team.

The drilling team rose to the challenge: while learning the local language to overcome communication barriers, they also drew on the advanced management philosophies and systems of international companies, tackling one difficult problem after another and gradually finding their rhythm.

In the two years that followed, the Nigerian project entered a fast-track phase of development. The addition of Drilling Teams 70129 and 70120 further expanded the team’s size and market presence. In 2007, Drilling Team 70119 broke Shell’s eight-year record for continuous safe production, thereby further enhancing Sinopec’s visibility and influence in Nigeria’s drilling market.

“I joined the Nigeria project in my first year on the job and stayed there for 15 years straight. From just one drilling rig at the project’s inception, we’ve grown to become the first independently contracted overseas project undertaken by North China Petroleum Engineering Company,” recalled Zeng Dewei, who at the time served as the deputy manager of the Nigeria Project Department, his voice filled with deep emotion as he looked back on those days.

Expand the market and achieve strong performance in the oil-rich region.

In response to practical realities such as market fragmentation, the Nigeria project team conducted in-depth market research among various companies, gaining a thorough understanding of the client’s needs and strengthening the promotion of drilling rigs. “Here, both negotiating contracts and expanding into new markets are challenging—securing drilling contracts is no easy feat,” said Chang Xianshuai, Deputy Manager of the Nigeria project. At the same time, they hold specialized seminars on market development at key milestones, summarizing experiences, analyzing problems and shortcomings, and continuously adjusting their market-strategy approach to highlight the effectiveness of their market-development efforts.

During the construction operations, the Nigeria project team has been strictly controlling the quality of drilling operations. While strengthening communication and coordination, the team pays close attention to the client’s operational needs and adopts a “one-on-one” service model to provide customized service solutions, continuously enhancing its capability to deliver integrated project services.

Since entering the Nigerian drilling market, North China Petroleum Engineering Company has cumulatively signed and renewed over 30 drilling contracts, completed nearly 150 drilling and workover operations, and drilled over 500,000 meters of footage. The company has repeatedly broken records set by clients such as Shell and SEPLAT in terms of safety performance and drilling operation efficiency. Thanks to its outstanding performance, from 2019 to 2024, Drilling Team 70119 successfully renewed its contract with SEPLAT seven times, earning it the title of the company’s top onshore drilling and workover contractor. In January 2023, the client Matpatson awarded the Nigeria Project Department a “Outstanding Construction” plaque; in November of the same year, Drilling Team 70186 achieved a milestone of 600,000 safe working hours without any accidents, earning recognition from the client NPDC.

“Carrying out our work meticulously and handling each step with care—this is the secret to our success in building the ‘Africa’s No. 1 Drilling’ brand on this oil-rich land,” said Li Wei, manager of North China Petroleum Engineering International Company, with a smile.

Cultivate talent and support the personal development of foreign employees.

In May 2024, 51 teachers and students from the Nigerian Society of Petroleum Engineers visited and studied at Drilling Team 70186. The team’s rigorous work ethic and extensive experience received unanimous recognition from the teachers and students. “We’re extremely grateful to Sinopec for providing us with this opportunity to visit and learn,” said trainee Jerry. “We hope to come to Sinopec for internships and eventually work here in the future.”

“We’re opening our internship program to local universities and community youth, enabling more young Africans to learn about and enter the oil industry, and encouraging them to study hard so they can join this sector in the future,” said Wang Feng, Project Manager for Nigeria.

In addition to actively promoting internship programs, the Nigeria Project Office has consistently adhered to local employment practices over the years. To date, the proportion of locally hired staff within the project office has reached as high as 80%, with cumulative direct employment of local workers exceeding 6,000 person-times and indirect job placements for local community members surpassing 2,000 person-times. In response to the relatively high proportion of expatriate employees, the Nigeria Project Office requires well-site personnel to respect local dietary habits and religious beliefs, while also intensifying efforts to develop and nurture talent, thereby helping expatriate employees grow and succeed.

Ibrahim, a Nigerian employee, is one of the staff members who have grown up within the project department. He joined Sinopec in 2004 and was among the very first employees to join the project department. At that time, the young Ibrahim started out as a field worker at the grassroots level. Thanks to his diligent and studious attitude, he quickly mastered the “fundamentals” of the drilling team and gradually demonstrated strong management skills, eventually becoming the first foreign-born shift leader in the Nigerian project department. In 2023, he received the Outstanding Employee Award for Overseas Projects from North China Petroleum Engineering Company. During the award ceremony, he said, “I really love the working atmosphere here, and I’ll continue to work even harder in the future. I’m grateful to Sinopec for helping me grow.”

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