Oredola Adeola
The Oil Mining Lease (OML) 34 in Western Niger Delta has been chosen by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.), in a collaboration with the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Energy Resources (DOS-ENR), and Deloitte, as the pilot site for a project methane abatement plans and strategies, marking a significant step towards achieving Nigeria’s net-zero carbon goals.
This was contained in a statement released by Olufemi Soneye, Chief Corporate Communications Officer NNPC Ltd and obtained by Advisors Reports on Monday.
The NNPC stated that the pilot project which is at its conceptual stage was the focus of a three-day Technical Assistance on Oil & Gas Sector Global Methane Abatement and Decarbonisation Workshop which kicked off at the PTDF Tower, in Abuja, on Monday.
Advisors Reports’ finding showed that the OML 34, is a significant oil and gas asset, under the joint operation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) and ND Western Limited, with NNPC holding a 55% stake as the Operator on record, and Aradel, through a special purpose vehicle – ND Western Limited, possessing a substantial 45% interest in the asset.
According to Soneye, the NNPC Ltd. is working in collaboration with the U.S. DOS-ENR, under the Energy and Mineral Governance Program (EMGP) and Deloitte, as the implementing partner to meet its net-zero carbon goals, consistent with international leading practices.
The NNPC said, “The workshop, which is a follow-up on the July 2023 capacity building Training on Methane Baselining and Organisational Design and the Development of a Methane Technology Evaluation Framework, is aimed at defining the critical success elements for the Methane Abatement Pilot Project Implementation, Scaling and Financing.
“Some of the critical elements of the project tabled at the workshop include determining the scope of the project, establishing a baseline for methane and carbon emissions from the selected operation sites, collecting relevant data on the selected sites and helping the Deloitte consultants understand the operations and expectations of NNPC Ltd.
“Participants at the workshop unanimously selected OML 34 located onshore in Western Niger Delta which has the Utorogu and Ughelli Fields as the operation site for the pilot stage of the project.
The statement from NNPCL revealed that the participants were drawn from relevant NNPC Ltd.’s subsidiaries and Departments such as Exploration & Production; New Energy; Gas Infrastructure; Health, Safety, and Environment, as well as the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, and Federal Government agencies like the National Council on Climate Change.
Advisors Reports further gathered that the project technical training was sponsored by the United States Department of State’s Bureau of Energy Resources’ Energy and Mineral Governance Programme (EMGP).
