NNPC Upstream Plans 40bn Barrels Reserves by 2030, Seeks Investment in Pipelines Network

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) has said with all the ongoing upstream projects, it plans to meet its 40 billion barrels crude oil reserves target by 2030.

The Executive Vice President, Upstream, Adokiye Tombomieye, who spoke during the just-concluded Nigerian Oil and Gas (NOG) week in Abuja, stated that the company would also need massive investments to revamp part of its over 5,000 kilometres pipelines nationwide.

The EVP who was represented by the Upstream Business Advisor, Olanrewaju Igandan, said that with existing proven crude oil and condensate reserves of 36.966 billion barrels as well as 208.83 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, it was important to ramp up the country’s stock of the commodity.
Tombomieye, stated that the NNPC had been active within the inland basin and has partnered with TotalEnergies for the discovery of the Ntokon field in Oil Mining Lease (OML) 102, with the discovery of large volumes of the commodity.

He stated there was the need for a conducive investment climate to operate, highlighting the critical role of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) in creating a transparent and efficient sector.
“As one of Africa’s leading oil and gas reserves holders and producers, we will continue to attract significant investments albeit under the right investment climate.

“NNPC limited has made commendable exploration forays into the frontier basins. Following our success in the Kolmani River prospects in the Upper Benue trough, NNPC has increased its activities into the middle Benue trough with the spudding of the Ebenyi well.
“We have also progressed the Chad basin with the spudding of the Wadi B well. All this is geared towards achieving the 40 billion barrel reserves mark by 2030,” he said.

He noted that the issue of insecurity remains a significant barrier to the company’s realisation of its vision for the upstream sector, lamenting that in August 2022, for instance, it was so severe that the NNPC production dropped to less than 1 million barrels of crude oil only.

To address the issue, Tombomieye stated that the NNPC in collaboration with its partners, devised a new security architecture for the entire industry and has since then seen an upward trend in its production so much that in February 2022, it went to as high as 1.69 million barrels of crude oil and condensates.
“We have separated the regulatory and commercial functions and so that provided a level playing ground and an environment that is conducive to attract both local and foreign investment.

“A significant amount of our deferred production is as a result of infrastructure issues. At least 40 per cent of our main pipeline infrastructure systems are over 30 to 40 years old and they must be replaced.
“Assets integrity issues have created issues such as deteriorating of the pipelines, hydrocarbon spills, postponement and shutdowns. We will need enormous investment to replace aging infrastructures,” he stressed.

According to him, many exploration companies now invest more in digital oilfield technology to increase production efficiency and reduce operating cost.
He disclosed that efforts to integrate hardware, software data analysis techniques, digital oilfield technologies to collect data in real time so that decisions can be made in real time were ongoing.