NNPC Ltd, others partner on greenhouse gas reduction within OML34

Mkpoikana Udoma

Port Harcourt — The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited says it is working with the US Department of State’s Bureau of Energy Resources under the Energy and Mineral Governance Program, and Deloitte, as the implementing partner, to meet its net-zero carbon goals starting from OML34.

To this end, the company said the collaboration has embarked on a project aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions through methane abatement plans and strategies consistent with international leading practices.

Chief Corporate Communications Officer, NNPC Ltd. Mr Olufemi Soneye, said the pilot project which was at its conceptual stage, would be the focus of a three-day Technical Assistance on Oil and Gas Sector Global Methane Abatement and Decarbonisation Workshop which kicked off yesterday in Abuja.

Soneye in a statement sighted by our correspondent explained that participants at the workshop unanimously selected OML 34 located onshore in Delta State, which has the Utorogu and Ughelli fields as the operation site for the pilot stage of the project.

The statement reads, “The workshop, which is a follow-up on the July 2023 capacity building Training on Methane Baselining and Organisational Design and the Development of a Methane Technology Evaluation Framework, is aimed at defining the critical success elements for the Methane Abatement Pilot Project Implementation, Scaling and Financing.

“Some of the critical elements of the project tabled at the workshop include determining the scope of the project, establishing a baseline for methane and carbon emissions from the selected operation sites, collecting relevant data on the selected sites and helping the Deloitte consultants understand the operations and expectations of NNPC Ltd.

“Participants were drawn from relevant NNPC Ltd.’s subsidiaries and Departments such as Exploration and Production; New Energy; Gas Infrastructure; Health, Safety, and Environment, as well as the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, and Federal Government agencies like the National Council on Climate Change.

“The project technical training is sponsored by the United States Department of State’s Bureau of Energy Resources’ Energy and Mineral Governance Programme.”