Uquo JV gas plant to elevate Nigerian economy
Uquo Joint Venture partners, have informed that its Gas Processing Facility in Esit Eket, Akwa Ibom State, commissioned by the President, His Excellency, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan GCFR on Thursday, August 14, 2014 is the beginning of a gas value chain that will open the country’s economy and improve the lives of Nigerians.
Speaking at the commissioning, which also marked the formal commencement of gas supply to the Ibom Power Company, the joint venture partners said that facility will boost power generation in the country by between 750 and 1,000 megawatts of electricity.
According to Dada Thomas, Chief Executive Officer of Frontier Oil Limited, the operators of the Uquo Joint Venture, “Today’s commissioning is the beginning of a gas value chain that will affect the lives of Nigerians and boost the nation’s economy. With an added 1,000 megawatts of electricity to our national grid, our production capabilities are bound to expand, increasing the size and breath of our economy.”
“This means that the hairdresser can do her hairdressing, the welder can do his welding, and the factory can carry on production. It means that the people in the office can function because their computers will have power and all those things have an impact on the ability of each individual to produce optimally”, Thomas continued.
He said that the plant is poised to offer efficient service delivery and unmatched quality gas supply which will, in turn, translate into efficient power generation by the power plants using the gas from this facility.
Corroborating Thomas, 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, said that the 600 million dollar gas plant can do over 200 million cubic feet of gas per day which can produce almost 1,000 megawatts (MW) of power.
He informed that the Seven Energy is also building a pipeline that will supply gas from the facility to the NIPP Calabar, a 540 megawatts power plant.
According to him, “With these two trains, we will be able to power both the Ibom Power Plant as well as all of the gas needed for the Calabar NIPP for the next 20 years. We intend to expand as we get more customers and are able to access more gas in this area.”
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.
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 of Nigeria’s Marginal Field Programme, aimed at increasing reserves, production, employment, local content and indigenous participation in the upstream oil and gas business.