By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) through its exploration and production arm, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), has announced the successful drilling of Well 16 in Oil Mining Licence (OML) 111 which will boost Nigeria’s gas supply.
This was disclosed by the Managing Director of NPDC, Mr Mansur Sambo, when the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mr Mele Kyari, visited the company’s Oredo Gas Handling plant in Benin City, Edo State.
He said the well was essentially for gas with associated crude oil, adding that the plan was for the Gas Plant to be fed from the well.
The NDPC MD said the company plans to boost its gas supply to the domestic market by 600 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscf/d) in the next three to five years.
Speaking on the medium-term projection of the company, which is currently the highest supplier of natural gas to the domestic market, the NPDC boss said besides the one billion standard cubic feet per day (bscf/d) it currently produces, another 600 mmscf would be added to its product portfolio in the next three to five years.
Giving a further breakdown of the projection, Mr Sambo said the company’s OML 34 was expected to deliver 360 mmscf/d, while OMLs 42 and 111 would deliver 120mmscf/d apiece.
He stated that NPDC has accelerated production in OML 111 by 2,100 barrels per day of crude oil and 27mmscfd of gas, thereby increasing cumulative production from the acreage to 10,699 barrels per day.
On the Gas Handling Facility, the NPDC boss disclosed that the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) unit would be ready for commissioning in October 2020.
Speaking at the occasion, the NNPC boss, Mr Kyari, described the development as a significant step towards growing the nation’s crude oil reserves and increasing production, stressing that more of such was needed to meet the target of three million barrels per day production and sustain the nation’s economic growth.
“This gas facility, in particular, will deliver at least 240 metric tons of LPG to domestic market within a year and that is a very significant fraction of the current level of supply into the market. It will ease the spending on foreign exchange by the country.
“This is monumental and underscores government efforts of making sure that this is the year of gas. The gas is the cheapest and easiest way of getting development in this country,” the GMD noted.
