How NNPC’s intervention unlocked 30,000 barrels of oil daily from OML 130 –TotalEnergies

The Deputy Managing Director, Deepwater Asset, TotalEnergies Upstream Nigeria Limited (TUPNI), Victor Bandele, has expressed appreciation to the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mele Kyari, over his intervention that unlocked 30,000 barrels per day of new oil from the Egina and Akpo fields expected before the end of the year 2023.

Specifically, he thanked Mr Kyari, for enabling the deepwater Production Sharing Contract (PSC) to engage the services of Gerry De Souza Drillship to commence the long-due drilling campaign of seven development wells and one exploratory well to arrest production decline on the asset and unlocked up to 30,000 barrels.

Mr Bandele said this as a guest at the NNPC Upstream Investment Management Services (NUIMS) 2023 Annual Value Assurance Review (AVAR) held at Eko Hotel & Suites.

The AVAR is a strategic forum where key issues that shape the oil and gas upstream business landscape are reviewed, and the direction is set with the sole objective of guaranteeing short-term success and long-term value is delivered to all stakeholders.

The NUIMS 2023 AVAR was geared towards consolidating gains for growth in the Production Industry Act era, with a laser focus on the ways NUIMS could better attract and manage capital for sustainable growth by emplacing plans to protect, preserve, and promote NNPC Limited’s upstream business objectives.

The outcomes of AVAR would also serve as relevant input to the ongoing efforts by NUIMS to be well-positioned to attract the required investments into the industry.

Speaking further, Mr Bandele said arresting production decline has helped in generating more value for stakeholders, improve the capacity utilisation of the best-in-class Egina Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) Vessel and ensure the attainment of the desired benefits from the attractive crude oil prices in the market.

The TotalEnergies official lauded NUIMS for always being a step ahead while pledging the commitment of the OML 130 partners to complete the ongoing drilling campaign, close out the lease renewal discussions, and turn the focus to aggressively executing the Preowei and Egina West projects.

He reiterated his confidence in the leadership of NNPC Ltd and applauded the Upstream Investment Managers, NUIMS, under Bala Wunti, for always being a step ahead and setting the pace for innovation in the Nigerian upstream oil and gas industry.

The Deputy Managing Director also announced to the gathering that TotalEnergies Upstream Nigeria Limited (TUPNI) secured the alignment of all the partners on OML 130 to progress with the lease renewal with a target to close out before the end of May 2023.

The lease renewal would pave the way to firm up discussions on the Preowei and Egina West projects lined up by TotalEnergies Upstream Nigeria Limited and the OML 130 partners to introduce additional volumes to the Egina FPSO, he said.

According to him, TotalEnergies Upstream is also on course to hit the milestone of one billion barrels of Crude Oil production on the Akpo field within a period of 15.5 years.

He attributed this success to excellent reservoir management and the instrumental role played by NUIMS and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) in providing the necessary support.

Mr Bandele, impressed by the objectives of the NUIMS Value Assurance Review, promised to replicate the same in his organisation, and in wrapping up his remarks, he briefly highlighted the remarkable achievement OML 130 has recorded in terms of gas production and monetisation from both the Akpo and Egina fields. Both fields have an outstanding record of zero gas flare.

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In his response to the DMD’s remark, Mr Wunti promised that innovation had become a culture at NUIMS and pledged the support of NUIMS to ensure TotalEnergies Upstream and the OML 130 partners achieve their development objectives for the benefit of all stakeholders.