TheCable

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with TotalEnergies for the adoption and deployment of a methane detection technology.

According to a statement on Tuesday by Olufemi Soneye, NNPC’s spokesperson, the technology, known as Airborne Ultralight Spectrometer for Environmental Application (AUSEA), would be utilised in all of the company’s upstream operations.

The agreement, Soneye said, is a direct benefit from the company’s participation at the recently concluded United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Soneye said NNPC will be able to deploy the AUSEA technology on its upstream operations sites to determine the level of methane emissions from them.

Aside from determining the amount of methane emissions from its upstream operations locations, the deployment is also aimed at developing emission curtailment strategies to aid in the fight against global warming and climate change, the NNPC spokesperson said.

He said the agreement was signed by Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, NNPC Ltd’s executive vice-president, upstream, and Matthieu Bouyer, the managing director and country chair at TotalEnergies EP Nigeria, on behalf of their respective companies.

The signing ceremony was witnessed by Mele Kyari, group chief executive officer (GCEO) of NNPC Ltd, and Patrick Pouyanné, chairman and chief executive officer of TotalEnergies.

Speaking on the collaboration, Kyari said TotalEnergies has been a great and reliable partner over the years.

He said the national oil company is looking forward to collaborating with TotalEnergies to explore greater opportunities in the country’s energy sector.

On his part, Pouyanné said his company provided the technology to NNPC as part of its mission to support the responsible production of hydrocarbons.

He applauded NNPC for its successful transition into a limited liability company, saying he could feel the positive energy that the changes had generated for the industry as well as the company.

Putting the deal in perspective, Eyesan said the pilot phase of the TotalEnergies AUSEA deployment would be on NNPC’s operations.

He added the agreement will allow NNPC to deploy methane abatement techniques.

Other benefits of the AUSEA technology, he said, include the identification of unaccounted emission sources, the establishment of a basis for querying and improving current emission reporting processes, provision of data to review operational systems and implement corrective actions, and estimation of flare combustion efficiency.