By Elizabeth Uwandu
The Group Managing Director, GMD, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr Maikanti Baru has reiterated the Federal Government’s plan to rigorously upgrade the country’s gas resources for economic growth.
Baru who made this known while commissioning a $60 million Egbeoma Gas Processing Plant in Ebedei Community, Ukwuani Local Government of Delta State, said that NNPC was committed to the Federal Government’s aspirations as expressed in the gas policy, environmental policy and domestic gas utilization policy.
According to him, some of the targets under the various government policies were: include effective monetization of the nation’s vast gas resources for sustainable economic growth and a complete end to gas flaring.
He added that the corporation was pursuing aggressive growth in domestic gas supply capacity from the current 1.7 billion Standard Cubic Feet Per Day, BSCFD to 5.0 BSCFD in the medium term, a growth which he explained, would come from the seven critical gas development projects.
According to him, aside from the gas supply growth, the NNPC was equally committed to the expansion of the gas pipeline infrastructure network system.
He said, “This expansion includes the Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben (OB3) gas pipeline which is less than five kilometers to Egbeoma Gas Plant and can serve as a major evacuation artery of the dry gas produced from the plant to the market.”
Baru who commended PNG Gas Limited, operators of the Egbeoma Gas Plant, said the commissioning was “no mean feat’ and a development that fitted squarely into the Federal Government’s gas aspiration of using gas as an enabler for energy independence, industrial development, commerce, environmental and social sustainability.
He added that the conceptualization and actualization of the gas plant project dream reinforced NNPC’s confidence in the potentials of Nigerian indigenous companies. “I see this initiative as the beginning of an end to the last mile of gas flaring in Nigeria. This plant is a hallmark of Nigerian engineering prowess and local content capacity,” he stated.
Engr. Charles Osezua, promoter of the Egbeoma Gas Plant project, said the plant represented the success story of Nigerian engineering.
“Our dream is to help realize the Federal Government’s drive of building a gas hub in this area by processing 150mmscfd of gas which will not only generate power but also support the growth of the nation’s economy,” Osezua stated.
He said as an industry leader, NNPC had a major role to play in galvanizing and bringing together the nation’s gas producers with a view to creating a gas hub in the country.
He noted that since inception in 2016, the plant had been running at 97% of installed capacity with a stellar safety record of about 1.5million man-hours of operation without lost time injury (LTI).
The NNPC explained that PNG Gas Limited is the owner and operator of Egbeoma Gas Plant which processes 30 million standard cubic feet of wet gas daily.
It added that the gas plant off-takes wet gas from the Platform/Newcross JV flow station to produce Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), Propane, Lean Gas and Natural Gas Liquids (NGL).
The NNPC added that the plant is also the only onshore third-party gas extraction and fractionation plant of its kind in Nigeria and a mascot of the new gas revolution.
Be the first to know when we publish an update
