Nigeria’s daily crude oil export is set to receive a boost as the Amukpe-Escravos Pipeline Project (AEPP), a joint venture (JV) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Pan Ocean Oil Corporation is scheduled to come on stream before the end of 2017. The project will increase crude export by 160,000bpd.
According to the Chairman of Pan Ocean, Dr Festus Fadeyi, the AEPP is going to be a major export line. “This great achievement means that Pan Ocean has an alternative line to export her crude and create an opportunity for others who have been using Trans Forcados Pipeline (TFP) to export their crude without disruption. This project will help the country to continue to export crude oil and keep the economy alive”, he stated.
Dr Fadeyi further said that Pan Ocean, operator of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Pan Ocean Joint Venture awarded the contract for the construction of Amukpe-Escravos Pipelines Project (AEPP) to Fenog Nigeria Limited, an indigenous company, based on the need to encourage alternate field production potential of exploration and production companies and boost capacity of indigenous companies. The contract, which involves installation of 20 inches pipeline across the 67 kilometers route, will have capacity to handle 160,000 barrels of oil per day (BOPD) with remote manifolds to accommodate third party crude oil evacuation to the Escravos tank farm.
He commended Nigerian banks which provided funding for the project and said that completion of the project is a reward for their years of patience and support, as well as confidence in Pan Ocean.
John Okusolubo, Senior Pipeline Engineer and Project Lead, AEPP stated that the pipeline project will offer an option to the “much troubled” Trans Forcados Pipeline for crude export from mid-western oil producers in the Niger Delta. “The primary objective of AEPP is to ensure that there is no disruption to crude oil export like the scenario we experienced on the TFP over the past 16 months where there was a total collapse of crude export. Nigeria’s experience and history has shown that it is not wise to be highly dependent on a particular source that is why we have AEPP as alternative to TFP which has been our major means of exporting crude oil as a joint venture (JV) partner”, he said.
According Okusolubo, the construction of the AEPP entails the use of continuous Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) method to install the entire pipeline length for the purpose of security from the act of vandalism which is prevalent in the domain. The project’s objective is to provide Pan Ocean JV and producers such as Seplat, Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), Conoil, Sahara and other oil producers in the area an alternative export pipeline route to the existing TFP that has been a casualty of many militant attacks.
Nigeria’s crude export capability dwindled in the past 2 years because of massive vandalism. The TFP has a daily capacity of 240,000 bpd, with average daily flows ranging between 200,000 bpd and 240,000 bpd. Amid it’s shutdown, Nigeria’s crude oil production fell from 2 million bpd to as low as 1.27 million bpd, losing its position as Africa’s number one crude oil producer and falling behind Angola several times over the past year.
It would be recalled that Pan Ocean has also completed work on two other multimillion dollar projects which are set for commissioning. The projects include the Ovade-Ogharefe gas processing plant, which will deliver gas for power generation and domestic use, and Early Production Facility at OML 147.
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