Nigeria hopeful of $32.5b oil projects as NNPC eyes 1.8mb/d in July
19 May 2023 |
4:25 am
Nigeria may see the coming on stream of over $32.5 billion worth of oil and gas projects as the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited and International Oil Companies operating in the country yesterday show readiness to sign Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) on some projects.
NNPC GMD, Mele Kyari. Photo: TWITTER/NNPCGROUP
• NNPC clears $3.8b JV cash call debt
• NCDMB worries over drop in oil contribution to GDP, revenue
• Shell, Total, Bayelsa Govt seek speedy implementation of PIA
Nigeria may see the coming on stream of over $32.5 billion worth of oil and gas projects as the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited and International Oil Companies operating in the country yesterday show readiness to sign Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) on some projects.
The development is coming as the country is expected to see its oil production rise to 1.8 million barrels per day in July, amidst calls from industry stakeholders for the country to urgently address loopholes in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) and immediately finalize the Host Community fragment of the law.
The move also came as NNPC Limited said $3.8 billion has been paid to oil operators in the country to clear all outstanding Joint Venture (JV) cash-call debt.
The cleared outstanding, according to the NNPC, re-energised the JVs to recalibrate their focus towards sustaining production and increasing their spending to procure the necessary services required to do so.
Gathered in Yenagoa at the Nigerian Oil and Gas Opportunity Fair (NOGOF), organised by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), the operators disclosed that Total Energies’ Ubeta, Preowei, Escravos Gas Plant Degasser Project, Chevron’s Agbami, Shell’s Bonga and ExxonMobil’s Owowo are coming on stream this year and would by 2024 push the country’s production to about three million barrels per day.
The concerns for the operators bordered on the need for the Nigerian government to urgently address challenges that diminish the bankability of the country’s energy industry, especially insecurity, crude theft, community issues, poor governance framework, sanctity of contracts, contractor capability, gas fiscals for deepwater and dry gas, projects economics as well as clear operationalization of the PIA fiscal system.
In terms of revenue, investment, production and reserves, the odds have been against Nigeria in the last eight years over investors’ divestment while funds move to other African countries.
The NCDMB at the programme was specifically worried about the declining state of the industry’s contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) even as yearly contribution of oil to aggregate GDP in 2022 was 5.67 per cent compared to 7.24 per cent in 2021 while the sector which used to contribute about 80 per cent of total revenue dropped last year to 41 per cent.
On the expected oil projects in the sector, Managing Director of Shell, Osagie Okunbor said the company plans $19 billion in the next 10 years, adding that the projects are mainly in the areas of gas and deepwater and would add about 10,000 jobs.
Okunbor said about $3 billion would be spent in capital expenditure to grow domestic gas supply to power industries, petrochemical plants and commercial markets.
According to him, about $4 billion would be spent on onshore gas required to keep NLNG Trains 1-6 full and another $6 billion on shallow water offshore to grow supply to the new NLNG Train 7.
Okunbor, who put the deepwater spending at $6 billion said the growth is centred on near term opportunities, especially infill projects plus Bonga Main life Extension, midterm opportunities in Bonga North) and long term opportunities in Bonga South West and Nnwa-Doro.
NNPC Ltd’s Chief Upstream Investment Officer, Bala Wunti, who said the country’s production has risen to 1.5 million barrels per day and would hit budget projections of 1.8 in July, said FIDs are at the verge of being taken on Total Energies’ Ubeta, Preowei, Escravos Gas Plant Degasser Project, Chevron’s Agbami, Shell’s Bonga and ExxonMobil’s Owowo.
The sector is also looking to fully optimise the opportunities in the $3.5bn Agbami oilfield as well as the $10 billion Escravos Gas Plant Degasser Project.
The development, according to Wunti, would increase the nation’s crude oil production to about 3 million barrels per day in the light of the efforts being taken to address security concerns.
He disclosed that the company had leveraged its financial autonomy derived from the PIA to work out and execute a payment plan for the cash call debt while balancing its energy security obligations to the nation.
“This, by no small means, re-energised the JVs to recalibrate their focus towards sustaining production and increasing their spending to procure the necessary services required to do so,” Wunti said.
He noted that the country’s response to the security challenges through the deployment of industry-wide security architecture brought a holistic hydrocarbon infrastructure security architecture to tackle the issue of crude oil theft and vandalism of oil and gas assets.
According to him, the architecture comprises Government Security and Intelligence Agencies (GSIAs) supported by Private Security Contractors (PSCs) drawn from the Host Communities with vast knowledge of the terrains and the Communities.
Wunti added that the security operations are monitored and coordinated from a central command and coordination centre that leverages state-of-the-art technology to detect illegal activities and escalate to the front line for swift response in a timely, cost-efficient, and effective manner.
Speaking on Upstream Production Cost, he said Nigerian Upstream Cost Optimization Program (NUCOP) has brought synergy amongst upstream players in the country to drive down costs.
“Progress has been recorded with improvements in the contracting cycle and co-sharing of services amongst upstream operators,” he said.
Wunti noted that the drive to broaden local content and develop capacity in the upstream industry is non-negotiable, stressing that stakeholders must not relent as the opportunities abound, and many more are lined up with an expected uptake in drilling activities, demand for line pipes, and consumables essential for growing production output.
Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Simbi Wabote noted that Nigeria’s oil and gas sector could serve as the catalyst that would enable the country to achieve the desired double-digit GDP growth rate if operators were bold and disruptive in their strategy.
“One probable means through which double-digit GDP growth can be achieved is by harnessing the array of opportunities that exists in various categories enabled by the oil and gas industry,” he said.
According to him, opportunities driven by policies, guidelines, regulations, and statutes are attractive to investors as there is clarity on the framework governing their business endeavours.
Noting that gains are being recorded in the area of gas, Wabote said half of the local LPG requirement is however still being imported, adding that the consumption level is still far below the 4million tonnes consumption projected by the year 2025 under the National Gas Expansion Program (NGEP).
The Executive Secretary said: “These gaps in volumes and consumption spread present opportunities in local processing, storage depots, trucking, cylinders manufacturing, distribution pipelines, conversion kits, and many other opportunities.”
He said the agency has introduced and widened the options for accessing interventions further with the $300 million Nigerian Content Intervention Fund with BOI, $50 million Nigerian Content R&D Fund, and a $50 million Nigerian Oil and Gas Park Scheme (NOGAPS) Manufacturing Fund.
“Over 70 companies have so far benefited from the intervention funds for asset acquisition, manufacturing, loan refinancing, and project financing. The forensic audit of remittances into the Nigerian Content Development Fund also opened up opportunities for 25 audit companies engaged to check the books of about 150 companies,” he said.
The Governor of Bayelsa State, Douye Diri said the pace at which the PIA is being implemented is unacceptable, adding that it remained saddening that the host community aspect of the law has not materialised.
Stressing that the document is skewed against the oil producing communities, Diri, represented by his Commissioner for Mineral Resources, Ebieri Jones said the integrity of oil pipelines in the region is questionable.
Disclosing that a recent gas spill and recurring incidents show that the national oil company may be wanting in maintaining its infrastructure.
Also speaking at the event, the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mele Kyari said Nigeria would be supplying about 300,000 barrels of crude per day to Dangote Refinery.
He disclosed that the government would not relent on the security approach to address oil theft, adding that all sectors remained the major revenue for the country as most industries in the country rely on the sector to survive.
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