Ubeta Field devpt: NCDMB guarantees patronage for local players
Sopuruchi Onwuka
Local players with expertise and capacity for oilfield activities have high hopes participating in the $550 million Ubeta Field development onshore Rivers State.
Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Engr Felix Omotshola-Ogbe, has declared that TotalEnergies which operates the Oil Mining Lease (OML) 58 acreage is committed to comply with the Nigerian Content Plan for the project.
He said the Ubeta field development project would create thousands of jobs in the country and catalyse the economy.
Engr. Omatsola Ogbe who was at the signing of the Final Investment Decision (FID) by the project promoters and their contractors in Abuja stated that the Nigerian Content Plan and other documents the NCDMB had signed off with TotalEnergies were designed to guarantee that substantial tonnages, man hours, and budget are retained for in-country job delivery.
The Ubeta Field Development Project is being developed with an expectation to produce 300 million standard cubic feet of gas per day (mmscfd) and some 10,000 barrels of condensate per day. Total output is estimated at significant 70,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per day.
Billed to commence production in 2027, the Ubeta Field facility, located about 80 kilometres northwest of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, would feed and secure gas supply to the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Train-7 Project at Finima, Bonny Island, currently undergoing capacity expansion from 22 to 30 metric tonnes per annum (mtpa).
Engr Oatshola Ogbe stated that the project will also enable capacity utilization and substantial human capacity development (HCD), Research and Development as well as opportunities for banking, insurance, legal, and other services, he assured.
He stated that “the approval of the final stages of the Nigerian Content Plan for this project” was one of the first acts he performed on his assumption of duty in December 2023.
Among salient elements of the Nigerian Content Plan for Ubeta Field Development facility is the domiciliation of “100 percent of its project management man hours in Nigeria,” same for “Front End Engineering Design and Detailed Design,” which will be domiciled 100 percent in Nigeria, with COREN-licensed engineering companies as preferred executors.
In addition to these, the project will give first consideration to in-country manufacturers that have valid Nigerian Content Equipment Certificate from the Board, regarding material procurement, while fabrication and construction are also to be significantly handled by well-established fabrication yards in the country.
Engr. Ogbe, represented by the General Manager, Corporate Communications and Zonal Coordination, Esueme Dan Kikile, Esq, reiterated that the NCDMB has effectively aligned its processes “to shorten the oil industry’s contracting cycle to six months or less to engender speedy development of new projects, contribute to increased oil production, and improve the national economy.”
According to him, the Board provided “timely approvals for all the requests and documents submitted by TotalEnergies E&P,” in line with the Service Level Agreement (SLA) introduced by the Board in the oil and gas industry. The Board has also “complied fully with the Presidential Directives aimed at ensuring cost competitiveness and meeting project schedules of oil and gas projects.”
He equally assured that NCDMB will continue to serve as a business enabler for the oil and gas industry and beckoned on industry stakeholders to continue working together to achieve the objectives set for the industry by President Ahmed Bola Tinubu.
The Senior Vice President Africa, Total Energies E&P, Mr. Mike Sangster, in his remarks, expressed delight with the grounds covered on the Ubeta Project, noting that it fits perfectly with his company’s “strategy of developing low-cost and low-emission projects,” and that it would boost the Nigerian economy through higher NLNG exports.
Noting that TotalEnergies has been very active in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry for several decades, he disclosed that “Ubeta is the latest in a series of projects developed by TotalEnergies in Nigeria, most recently Ikike and Akpo West.”
TotalEnergies E&P is the operator of OML 58 onshore licence, with a 40 per cent stake in the US$550 million Ubeta Field Development Project, while the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has 49 per cent equity.
