NNPC, Shell, Total, Agip Sign Assa North Project FID Agreement

The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its joint venture partners yesterday took a bold step towards attaining sufficiency in domestic gas supply 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.

The FID agreement was entered into between NNPC and its Joint Venture partners which includes: Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Total Exploration and Production Nigeria (TEPNG) and Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC).

The project, located in south-eastern Imo State, aims to position Nigeria as a regional hub for gas-based industries while complementing federal government’s aspiration on gas sufficiency for domestic consumption, power generation, and gas-based ammonia and urea fertilizers for farmers.

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 realised.

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.

Also speaking, managing director, SPDC and country chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria, Mr. Osagie Okunbor, said Shell as the operators of the ANOH project, was committed to the successful implementation of the project.

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

Source: Leadership