Jonathan to commission Uquo JV’s gas facility in Akwa Ibom

Frontier Oil Ltd and Seven Exploration and Production Limited, the Uquo Joint Venture partners, have finalised arrangements for the official commissioning of the Uquo Gas Processing Facility in Eket, Akwa Ibom state by President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday.

The event, which will hold at the Uquo Gas Processing Facility, Esit Eket, will also mark the formal commencement of gas supply to the Akwa Ibom-owned power plant, the Ibom Power Company.

According to the Uquo Joint Venture Partners, the gas facility is one of the biggest projects of its nature undertaken by independent indigenous partners in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Uquo JV has commissioned the Train 2 of the Uquo Gas Processing Facility in readiness for supplying 131 MMscfd of gas to the Calabar NIPP power station in Q4/2014.

“With Trains 1 and 2 of the Uquo Gas Processing Facility fully operational and once the connecting pipeline to Calabar is commissioned, the Joint Venture will be supplying gas to provide 750 megawatts of electricity generation capacity at the Ibom Power station and the Calabar NIPP power station, equivalent to some ten per cent of Nigeria’s generating capacity,” managing director of Frontier Oil, Engr Dada Thomas, said.

He recalled that the Uquo Field was one of the 24 marginal fields that were awarded to indigenous companies by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) in 2003 as part of the federal government’s Marginal Field Programme, aimed at increasing reserves, production, employment, local content and indigenous participation in the upstream oil and gas business.

According to Mr. Philip Ihenacho, chief executive officer of Seven Energy, the JV partner that provided the technical services and 100 per cent of the funding for the gas facility, the gas delivery plan was designed in a way that will ensure the safety of communities located along the pipelines routes.

“The introduction of high pressure gas into the Uquo Gas Processing Facility and the pipelines has been accompanied by a focused education programme along the pipeline’s Right of Way to ensure the safety of the communities located along the pipeline right of way for the safety, security and continuity of supply to Ibom Power Company,” he said, expressing assurance that the project will boost power generation in the country and generate employment for Nigerians.