Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB) and Nigeria National Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (NNPC) have signed a cooperation agreement that commits SLB to helping provide technical services in Nigeria’s upstream oil and gas sector.
SLB executed the pact with NNPC subsidiary NNPC Energy Services Ltd. (EnServ). “This agreement is geared towards unlocking the capacities of EnServ for Nigeria, which potentially will help NNPC Ltd to achieve its exploration and production targets”, SLB chief executive Olivier Le Peuch was quoted as saying in a statement posted by NNPC. “We look forward to using this technical partnership as a springboard to accelerate the vision that the industry needs”.
Speaking after the signing, NNPC chief executive Mele Kyari said NNPC was working on a rig share platform that, according to the NNPC statement, eyes “well drilling activities and associated operations in the coming years”.
“Quite a number of reforms are unfolding, and at the back of it is a potential release of investment that we are seeing in a very short term”, Kyari was quoted as saying. “Our physical environment is excellent today; contracting processes have been reviewed by virtue of the clear reforms Mr. President has put in place; and ultimately, we are already seeing substantial energy going into unlocking opportunities of today”.
Last September the government signed a deal with oil majors that aims to cut the duration of the awarding process for development projects under existing production-sharing contracts to six months.
The pact, a memorandum of understanding that also serves as a so-called service-level agreement, has “the goal of quickly ramping up Nigeria’s flagging crude oil production, ensuring compliance with the provisions of the Nigerian Content Act, and timely approvals of documents”, the NCDMB said in a statement September 25, 2023, referring to a law regulating oil and gas development projects. Besides the board, the other signatories included NNPC, Nigerian Agip Oil Co. Ltd. and subsidiaries of Chevron Corp., Shell, Exxon Mobil Corp. and TotalEnergies SE. The NNPC is the concessionaire of the PSCs held by the multinationals.
Then-NCDMB Executive Secretary Simbi Kesiye Wabote told the Nigerian Oil and Gas Opportunity Fair in May 2023 Nigeria was aiming for over $50 billion worth of oil development projects over 2024–28.
Nigeria recently increased its hydrocarbon reserve figures. Known crude oil and condensate reserves rose to 37.5 billion barrels as of January 1. Associated and non-associated gas stood at 209.26 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), according to a report by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission April 16, 2024. Of the liquid reserves, petroleum totaled 31.56 billion barrels while condensate stood at 5.94 billion barrels. Of the gas reserves, associated volumes were 102.59 Tcf while non-associated gas stood at 106.67 Tcf.
Source: rigzone.com