NNPC, JV partners sign FID on Assa North fields

ABUJA, Nigeria – A major step on attaining sufficiency in domestic gas supply was taken by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Wednesday in Abuja with the execution of Final Investment Decision (FID) on the development of the 4.3trillion cubic feet Assa North/Ohaji South Fields (ANOH) in OML 21 between the corporation and its Joint Venture partners among which are: Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Total Exploration and Production Nigeria (TEPNG) and Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC). 

A statement by NNPC Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, disclosed that the project, when fully developed, would add about 600million standard cubic feet of gas per day (mmscfd) to the national gas grid with capacity to expand to 1.2billion cubic feet per day, while another 197 million stock barrel (mmstb) of Condensate will also be realized.

Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, described the ANOH project as a critical gas supply hub in Nigeria’s burgeoning gas-infrastructure network designed to provide the linkage between the Eastern, Western and Northern gas pipeline system.

Dr. Baru who was represented at the event by NNPC Chief Operating Officer, Upstream, Mallam Bello Rabiu, said the successful completion of the multi-faceted project which is an integral part of the 7-Critical Gas Development Projects, would be dependent on a number of critical success factors and enablers which include synergy and team work between NNPC and all the key stakeholders.

The NNPC GMD thanked stakeholders for signing the FID on the ANOH Project after being on the drawing board for 14 years. He said the corporation and its JV partners have worked on all the issues and have developed a sustainable strategy to develop the considerable gas resources in Assa North-Ohaji South Fields.

“Finally, I will like to conclude with immense compliments to the NNPC, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Total Exploration and Production Nigeria (TEPNG) and Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC), project teams and other critical stakeholders as we enter into the next major phases – Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) of this project”, he said.

The NNPC helmsman said the corporation would continue to leverage on available expertise and capital from its global outreach to accelerate and deliver on first gas from the project between the last quarter of 2019 and the first quarter of 2020.

To this end, NNPC has engaged two world-class project management consultants (DeltaAfrik/Worley Parson & Crestech/Penspen) who will work with NNPC JV Partners and other stakeholders to achieve set project deliverables. In addition, NNPC Project Management Teams are expected to strengthen oversight functions by ensuring prompt decision making and timely approvals.

 Mr. Osagie Okunbor, Managing Director SPDC and Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria, operators of the ANOH project, said Shell was committed to the successful implementation of the project. Osagie, who commended the resilience, diligence and enthusiasm of the project team, emphasized that the ANOH project would offer immeasurable opportunities for Nigerian firms to benefit from engineering, procurement and construction contracts.

He also announced the inauguration of boards to administer the Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU) for the two clusters of the project to the tune ofN1billion for development projects within the host communities for the next five years.

Nicholas Terraz, Managing Director of TEPN, and Lorenzo Fiorillo, MD, NAOC, also aligned their companies with the NNPC’s aspiration of ensuring timely completion of the project.