November 2020 Edition

NIGERIAN OIL & GAS
INDUSTRY REPORT
A REVIEW OF ACTIVITIES IN THE
NIGERIAN OIL & GAS SPACE
COURTESY AFRICAN OIL + GAS REPORT
NNPC'S PLANS TO GROW DOMESTIC GAS SUPPLY IS SEVERELY UNDER STRESS
NNPC is working on a plan to improve
the utilisation of natural gas produced in
the country such that less gas will be reinjected
and less will be flared. The
c o r p o r a t i o n ' s s o u rc e s s a y t h e
centerpiece of a five-year plan to 2025 is
to increase domestic gas sales from
around 1.5Billion standard cubic feet
per day today to 4.5Billion standard
cubic feet. But it is clear that the
ambition is farfetched, with the current
system, in which power plants; the
major user of natural gas are not taking
Biseni, AkriOguta, Ubie-Oshi and Afuo-
Ogbainbri), the development of 7 TCF
NPDC's OML 26, 30 & 42, the
d e v e l o p m e n t o f 2 . 2 T C F S h e l l
Petroleum Development Company,
(SPDC) JV Gas Supply to Brass Fertilizer
Company, cluster development of 5 TCF
OML 13 to support the expansion of
Seven Energy Uquo Gas Plant and
cluster development of 10 TCF
Okpokunou/Tuomo West (OML 35 & 62)
have all been rather quiet.
NNPC OPENS BIDS FOR PIPELINES AND DEPOTS REPAIR
The Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation (NNPC) declared open on
Tuesday, August 11, 2020, bids by
interested private investors to repair the
pipelines and depots that are serving
the refineries. This project is expected to
be operated on a public-private
partnership basis as the bidders are
expected to finance and execute the
project, then operate for an agreed
number of years before transferring
back to the NNPC. In other words, the
even the volumes contracted and those
who are taking are not paying promptly.
NNPC's upstream plans to expand the
overall gas volumes, notably the
development of seven critical Gas
Development Projects (7CGDP)
scheduled to deliver about 3.4Billion
standard cubic feet of gas per day on an
accelerated basis, has not gone far. Out
of those projects, only the 4.3 Trillion
cubic feet (TCF) Assa North/Ohaji South
field has gained traction. Others: the 6.4
TCF Unitized Gas fields (Samabribidders
for the extensive repairs of
these pipelines would have to finance
them independently and operate for a
defined period in order to recover their
investment costs with throughput tariffs
from the consumers. This model is
similar to the one that had been in place
by the state oil giant for the refineries.
The NNPC had also announced plans to
get private investors to invest in the
repair of the 3 refineries on a repair and
operate basis, as they do not want to be
involved in the management of these
refineries. The pipelines, which
according to NNPC are in dire need of
c o m p r e h e n s i v e r e p a i r s , h a v e
experienced years of incessant theft
and vandalism as well as ageing. In
addition, the new pipelines would need
intrusion detection systems, as well as
deep burial, to stop theft or vandalism.
The deadline for the submission of these
bids is due by September 18.
NAPENEWS | NOVEMBER 2020 | 14