Net-zero target: NNPC partners US, Deloitte to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited says it is working with the US Department of State and Deloitte, an international management consultancy firm, to meet its net-zero carbon goals.

The national oil company said it is embarking on a project to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through methane abatement plans and strategies in line with international leading practices.

According to a statement by Olufemi Soneye, NNPC’s spokesperson, the pilot project, which is at its conceptual stage, was the focus of the three-day technical assistance training.

The training, he said, focused on the oil and gas sector global methane abatement and decarbonisation workshop which kicked off at the PTDF Tower, in Abuja, on Monday.

The workshop is a follow-up to the July 2023 capacity-building training on methane baselining and organisational design.

According to the statement, the development of a methane technology evaluation framework, “is aimed at defining the critical success elements for the methane abatement pilot project implementation, scaling and financing”.

“Some of the critical elements of the project tabled at the workshop include determining the scope of the project, establishing a baseline for methane and carbon emissions from the selected operation sites, collecting relevant data on the selected sites and helping the Deloitte consultants understand the operations and expectations of NNPC Ltd,” the statement reads.

“Participants at the workshop unanimously selected OML 34 located onshore in Western Niger Delta which has the Utorogu and Ughelli Fields as the operation site for the pilot stage of the project.”

Soneye said participants were drawn from relevant NNPC subsidiaries and departments such as exploration and production, new energy, gas infrastructure, health, safety, and environment.

He said stakeholders from the ministry of petroleum resources and federal government agencies like the national council on climate change, also attended the event.

Soneye added that the project technical training is sponsored by the United States Department of State’s Bureau of Energy Resources’ Energy and Mineral Governance Programme (EMGP).