OB3 gas pipeline is a game changer, say Okwuosa
….. Lot B 2bscf/D to be completed by September
By Abisola THOMPSON
The Chairman/ Chief Executive Officer of Oilserv Group, Engr. Emeka Okwuosa in an exclusive interview with Energy Editors at the just concluded 50th Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) held in Houston, Texas in USA explained why the Obiafu-Obrikom -Oben (OB3) is a game changer.
Okwuosa also assured Nigerians that effort has been put in place to ensure that the (OB3) ‘Lot B’ gas pipeline being handled by his company is completed by September 2019.
QUES: OBB3 is a game changer and you are playing a key role in its delivery,
how soon are we getting to the final stage and how does it feel with the impact of such strategic project that is going to change the way we deliver gas in Nigeria?
ANSWER: Let’s put OB3 in proper perspective, no pipeline has been built in
Nigeria of that size or capacity. You may recollect that in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s, we had the likes of Wilbros and others but no Nigerian players in the pipeline industry. Look at our all pipeline infrastructure today, nowhere has 48″ pipelines have been built.
It is not about the pipeline; we have the Gas Treatment Plant (GTP) at Oben which is part of our scope. This is a GTP that is handling two billion standard cubic feet of gas per day (2bscuf/d). This has never existed anywhere in Africa. When we talk about OB3, it is not just about building a pipeline. Our own section, don’t forget there are two lots there.
We are building LOTB that will take the gas from mid-point all the way to Oben plant plus the Oben plant itself. Now, our pipeline was finished three years ago, but the treatment plant took a longer time because the location was changed from Oben North to the GTP location and it took us two years to go through re-engineering it
and getting the approval. But the story is clear, the pipeline and the GTP are going through pre-commissioning now on our own section.
By September, our own lot would have been done, and I can only speak for
Oilserv.
Nigerian oil and gas industry have come a long way. Clearly, oil industry continues to be relevant, continues to drive the economy of Nigeria, but not quite as much as we expected in terms of integration into the Nigerian economy as far as GDP contribution to the economy is concerned. There are many structured manners that can be put in place to be able to achieve that.
What is important is that available opportunities in services, whether it is in deep offshore or land or swamps, less than 20 per cent of that is touched today in terms of value. so, the opportunities are huge. That is what I can say.
QUES; With the completion of your own lot, will it be operational without
the other party completing its own section?
ANSWER: To some extent, no. But it depends on how the owner of the pipeline
wants to use it. One thing you have to know the technicality is that we have a pipeline going to GTP Oben but we have a 36′ line we built from Oben GTP to Escravos- Lagos Pipelines System (ELPS) which is Oben Norh that is by-directional pipeline. Which means you can take gas from the GTP in Oben into Escravos- Lagos Pipelines System (ELPS) or take from Elps into GTP. so, the answer is ‘Yes’ and ‘No”.
Yes, you can take gas from Elps into Oben into Ajaokuta when we
commission it. But the other section cannot be completed except Lot A
finishes to be able to evacuate gas all the way from al the way from
Obiafor into Oben.
QUES: What would you consider as some of the inhibiting factors to the
movement of indigenous companies into deepwater terrain?
ANSWER: We are already operating in that terrain in reality. When you say
deepwater operation, you look at it from two different points of
views. Are you looking at Exploration and Production (E&P) ownership?
which is ownership or are you looking at services.
I will talk from services point of view. Nigerians have been
participating in services in Bonga, Akpo, Usan. All these have had
Nigerians’ input. There are two key issues with participation in
deep-water arena. It is about technology and capital. Both will take
time normally to scale up. Nigerians are participating but we only
scathing the surface, there is still more opportunity for
participation. Now, how do we increase that, we require to assemble
capacity and integrate that capacity by working together in other to
have synergy and be able to deal with bigger scope. But we are in the
integration of FPSO (Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading
which is the issue of topsides. Nigerians are in drilling, pipelines,
flow-risers. We ae doing a lot but it is very competitive and capital
intensive and we have to slowly build it up as soon as we can because
we have proven capacity but we need to do more because there is so
much out there.
QUES:How do we ensure collaboration among indigenous players add value to the sector?
ANSWER: We have been adding value but not the level we desire. So the way we
can achieve this is by collaborating and synergizing between entities
like The Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN) and all PETAN members and be able to handle bigger scope
and compete with international service providers.
QUES: Why is there no such collaboration at the moment?
ANSWER; It is the Nigerian factor. Everyone wants to do things in his own way
and it is not the way to go. If you go to houses with 20 flats.
Instead of one tenant providing energy and everyone connects to it,
you will see everybody with his own generator. It is a Nigerian
factor. It is about understanding that the way to create value
requires working together and not as an individual and we are going to
get there.
QUES; What is your in incorporating technology in your operations because as
you can see, technology is taking the lead in oil and gas operations?
ANSWER; We are already incorporating technology in our operations. Many years
ago, you could not fin any Nigerian company doing horizontal
directional drilling. You would have had to go abroad for people to
come and do it. We have deployed that. We have been able to cross
rivers 48′ pipeline which would mean drilling and opening the
line to 64′ which is a major challenge because it collapses a lot. We
are encouraging technology a lot.
QUES: There have been talks about roles of robots in deep water operation,
do you think that is possible in Nigeria?
ANSWER; Anything is possible but what we should be asking ourselves is that
how do we put that side by side with the Nigerian initiative and
benefits. if you take robotics totally the way you have seen it by
displaying human capital, what happens to our economy. I won’t say it
is not in our own interest to deploy that, and I wont say you can stop
that. You can’t stop moving train, you would have to realize that
overtime, that may become the norm but what you do you, you start to
train people to develop such, you start to train people because
somebody has to manage that. You will create a different skill to be
able t drive that but you cannot completely take out the human
interface.
QUES: So at what stage is the AKK project?
AKK project is a very unique project, not just what it would achieve,
which is to be able to move gas to northern part of Nigeria and create
availability of energy to drive industries and create job
opportunities. North does not have energy, unemployment continues,
security problem continues, everybody will suffer. Secondly, AKK is
significant because it is the first time such project of that
magnitude is being done as EPC and Finance. It is not like the previous
projects where NNPC and other International Oil Companies (IOCs) award you a project and pay for it
and you go ahead and execute and collect your money. We are providing
the money and to provide such amount of money, the total value of that
projects for the two lots comes to $2.8billion. This is not a kind of
money you raise in Nigeria, you have to go and raise that capital
outside and for you to raise it, you need security. That security
instrument is a process and part of it requires the federal government
come in. For instance, if you are backing up the financing with the
tariff you will rise form that pipeline, don’t forget that most of
that tariff for example will be in naira. A financier who is overseas
doesn’t know what you are talking about in naira. So you have to
provide an instrument of convertibility that has to come from the CBN
guaranteed that every collection in naira will be immediately
converted to dollars. That’s a typical instrument, these things take
time to get through the government agencies. So, we are going through
that process and we are almost there. We have almost finalized the
security and we have also started with the engineering. As we speak,
the AKK has started, that is the point I’m making.
QUES; Does the spate of kidnapping and insecurity in the north affecting the project?
ANSWER: We are Nigerians, if there is kidnapping, we will deal with it. You
are not going to stop developing Nigeria because there is kidnapping.
In construction, we are tested and we are knowledgeable. The worked 100
per cent between 2002 to 2007 hen kidnapping was the norm in the Niger
Delta. Oilserv remained there. We worked in the swamps, maintained all
the pipelines, so there are ways to do that. We are Nigerians, we work
in Nigeria and we must create capacity in Nigeria. That is not going
to be an impediment at all. It is a concern, but we have procedures to
deal with that.