From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye
Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) Mele Kyari has disclosed how the company successfully delivered three critical gas projects in just 11 months, a feat that would typically take two years to accomplish.
The projects include the expanded AHL Gas Processing Plant, the ANOH Gas Processing Plant, and the 23.3km ANOH to Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben (OB3) Custody Transfer Metering Station Gas Pipeline.
Speaking to journalists at the 1200 MMscfd ANOH-OBJ CTMS gas pipeline project located in
Assa, Ohaji/Egbema local government of Imo State, after President Bola Tinubu commended NNPCL and its partners for delivering the projects, Kyari stated that the company’s ability to complete two years’ worth of work in just 11 months is a testament to the power of commitment, resources, and technology.
He emphasised that the gas revolution would bring enormous resources into the domestic market, providing gas for power generation, industry, and chemicals. This value chain, he said will create jobs, employment, taxes, and other benefits that a typical gas-producing country should enjoy.
The NNPCL GCEO, also assured that the company and its partners prioritised community engagement from the start of the projects to ensure the protection of the infrastructure.
Kyari also said that the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) has established host community funds to safeguard the interests of the communities.
He added that host communities will benefit from direct and indirect jobs, as well as the provisions of the law.
The NNPCL boss also highlighted the importance of an enabling fiscal environment and favourable laws that encourage gas development and lower taxation, making it more profitable for businesses to invest in gas projects.
He said the company is already making significant progress on other LNG projects and floating LNG projects, which are expected to further boost Nigeria’s gas exports.
Asked what magic they did to deliver two years of projects in 11 months, Kyari said: “This is the gas revolution in play. What this means to our country is that enormous resources are being put into the domestic market, it will provide gas to power, gas to industry, and gas to chemicals. And that value chain will create jobs, employment, taxes and everything you can imagine a typical gas country should benefit from.
“And this is becoming very apparent because we do need the backbone infrastructure to deliver on all these and this is what Mr President has pushed and we are delivering on them.
“The part that he mentioned that we were able to deliver two years of work in 11 months, means that when you put in more resources, more commitment and of course people, money, resources, technology, you can actually do work that is designed for two years in less than that period. And that is what we achieved, it is proof that this country can transform its gas resources into value and we are already seeing this value.
“I believe that in the very near future, the prosperity from gas will become very much and as the president has said, from gas to prosperity that is very much apparent.”
On the level of host community involvement to ensure the infrastructure is protected, Kyari said: “Two things, one is that from the start of the project to the end, community engagement is very very principal. As you can see, the entire strata of the community is here with us to witness this event and we do not have any challenges.
“Not only that, the law also has protected the interest of the community through the Petroleum Industry Act, the host community funds have been established for this community. So it is a very different ballgame, we believe that this community will benefit from direct jobs, indirect jobs and also the benefit that naturally comes from the provisions of the law.”
Asked if the rest of the projects will be completed within the same time frame, the NNPCL GCEO said: “When you have a project, there are things you cannot accelerate because you have long lease items that will have to be manufactured but with enormous resources and commitment, you can always shorten the duration of the project.”
Asked what efforts are on the ground to export gas outside Nigeria, Kyari said: “First of all, two things have happened in our country today, there’s an ample fiscal environment today, and the laws are good. It encourages gas development, taxation is lower, and businesses can make more money from gas in this country. And that is why we are seeing renewed interest in making investments in developing LNGs, which is already happening. We are already progressing massively on one other LNG project that I will not mention the name of because I have not sought permission from our partners. There are other floating LNG projects that are now ongoing and this is really history in the making.”
Tinubu inaugurated a 1, 200 million standard cubic feet per day (MMscfd) pipeline and Gas processing plant in Owerri, Imo State.
The 1200 MMscfd ANOH-OBJ CTMS gas pipeline project located in Assa, Ohaji/Egbema local government, is designed to evacuate dry gas from the Assa North-Ohaji South (ANOH) primary treatment facility (PTF) to OB3 custody transfer metering section (CTMS) for delivery into OB3 pipeline.
According to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), the ANOH Gas processing plant on the other hand, which is a 300 million standard cubic feet of natural gas (300MMscfd) gas processing plant, will receive wet unprocessed gas from the reservoirs in the Assa North-Ohaji South gas field for processing to produce three products, dry gas as fuel for power plants in the country, condensate which is to be channelled to Bonny terminal for export, and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), for the domestic market.
The third phase of the projects launched by the President is the AHL Gas processing plants – AHL GPP2 Ogbe-Ani community in Delta State, which is a 200 million standard cubic feet capacity gas processing plant with all necessary Utility and Storage facilities, connecting pipelines, truck loading facilities, to evacuate Lean Gas and Hydrocarbon Liquid Products.
The AHL Gas processing plant, a joint venture project, is designed to receive wet feed gas and processes the same to produce three products, Dry Lean gas which can be used as Fuel for power plants in the country, Propane and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), for the domestic market.
The Federal Government through the launch of these projects hopes to achieve a significant drop in gas flaring in line with its target towards supporting a cleaner energy global environment.