NNPC, TotalEnergies plan $550m investment in gas sector

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, and TotalEnergies (TTEF) will invest $550 million to develop a gas processing facility in Rivers State to boost exports and domestic supplies, an NNPC source told Reuters.

According to the report the investment would include a gas processing plant and a pipeline.

The NNPC source, according to Reuters, said a formal an announcement of the project would be made this week.

Reuters also reports that the gas processing facility will be built on the Ubeta onshore gas field, jointly owned by Total and NNPC, and will supply gas to the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) plant.

When completed, the plant would generate 350 million standard cubic feet per day of gas and 10,000 barrels per day of associated liquids, said the source.

Nigeria, which holds Africa’s largest natural gas reserves of more than 200 trillion cubic feet, flares – or burns off – gas from its oil fields because it lacks processing infrastructure and faces capital constraints.

“The government will hope this offers confidence not only in the quality of the Nigerian resource base, but also in the government’s pledge to improve ease of doing business,” Clementine Wallop, director, sub-Saharan Africa at political risk consultancy Horizon Engage, said.