By Ejiofor Alike
Hope for improvement in power supply in Nigeria has been rekindled as the joint venture between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Total E&P Nigeria Limited (TEPNG) has commenced supply of gas to the Alaoji Power Plant, the biggest power station owned by the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) under the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP).
The joint venture said in a statement yesterday that this development followed the completion and start up of the Obite-Ubeta-Rumuji pipeline (OUR pipeline) and the Northern Option Pipeline (NOPL) projects by the NNPC/TEPNG Joint Venture.
The OUR Pipeline is a 42-inch gas pipeline, extending 45 kilometres from Obite to Rumuji in Rivers State and will transport both domestic and export gas.
The NOPL project consists of a 50 km, 24-inch gas pipeline (together with two above ground installations) which starts at the Oil Mining Lease (OML) 58 in Rivers State and ends at the Owaza node in Abia State.
The NOPL has the capacity to provide up to 300 million cubic feet of gas to the Eastern Grid Domestic Gas market, with Alaoji Power Plant taking up to 100MMscf/d to generate electricity while other users of domestic gas take up the rest.
“The completion of these pipelines is an important milestone in the activities of Total in Nigeria. The NOPL is unique and strategic in meeting the Federal Government’s objectives of gas supply to the domestic market, ” said Nicolas Terraz, Managing Director/Chief Executive, Total E&P Nigeria Limited.
These two critical gas infrastructures are part of the ambitious OML 58 Upgrade initiative to increase oil and gas production, improve integrity of the facilities and eliminate flaring from the mature onshore field.
According to the joint venture, the projects recorded remarkable achievements in terms of Nigerian Content Development, providing training and capacity for Nigerian youths in specialised skills and stimulating the local economy through the numerous contracts and employment opportunities created during and after the projects phase.
In addition, the projects have provided sustainable community development projects in the crucial areas of clean water and health care support infrastructure, roads, agriculture and small and medium enterprises.
A former Managing Director of Total Upstream Companies in Nigeria, Mrs. Elisabeth Proust, had told THISDAY that for a gas project of such magnitude to be economic in Nigeria, the price of domestic gas should be increased from its current level of $2.5 to $7 per million British Thermal Unit (BTU).
“We have invested in very huge pipeline onshore – 50 kilometres of 24-inch pipeline, starting from OML 58 to go to Imo River and to Alaoji. Here, we are already in contract with the power plant at Alaoji. This is our first customer. We will be ready to deliver the gas by 2015. So, we are now in negotiation with other industries, not power plants, to provide them with gas. My plan is that in 2017, we should produce and supply the gas through the pipeline,” she had said.
