NEWS RELEASE
Lagos, Nigeria: August 11, 2012: SEPLAT Petroleum Development Company Limited, an indigenous oil and gas company, and the operator of the NPDC/SEPLAT JV blocks, OMLs 4, 38 & 41, has announced a planned shutdown of its Oben Gas plant.
According to SEPLAT the planned shutdown of the 90mmscf/day Oben Gas Plant is part of the ongoing plant upgrade that is designed to extend the plant life by another 20 years and achieve the West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP) specification.
The shutdown operation is the concluding part of the plant upgrade which the NPDC/SEPLAT JV has invested a significant amount of money. The operation will be in two phases with each phase running for seven days. During the first period of the upgrade, the Oben gas plant will operate at 50% of installed capacity, while the second phase will be a total shutdown for 7days.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Seplat, Mr. Austin Avuru said that the plant upgrade is another testimony of the joint venture’s unwavering commitment to ensuring a long-term supply of abundant, clean, relatively cheaper fuel to end-users in Nigeria, Ghana, Togo and Benin, providing additional outlet for its gas production in line with the federal government initiative to put an end to gas flaring in the upstream of the oil and gas industry and further monetise the gas resources of the nation .
“We expect this upgrade to strategically position the NPDC/Seplat JV to maintain a steady supply of high quality gas for domestic obligations and neighbouring countries through the WAGP, thus helping to stimulate industrial production/growth and support economic integration in these sub-regional economies”, said Avuru.
The Oben Gas plant will be shut down on Monday, 13th August, 2012 in line with Seplat’s agreement with the Nigerian Gas Company and other stakeholders. During the period of the shutdown, a new control room will be hooked up and pre-fabricated meter run (with DOF on the sales gas line), valves and vortex flow meters amongst other equipment will be installed.
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ABOUT SEPLAT PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LIMITED:
A truly dynamic and forward looking indigenous Nigerian Oil and Gas company, Seplat Petroleum Development Company Limited, is a key player in the petroleum exploration and production business. Registered in 2009 as a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for the acquisition of 45% interest in Oil Mining Licences 4, 38, and 41, SEPLAT was formed by two Nigerian E & P companies viz; Shebah E & P and Platform Petroleum. Subsequently, Maurel and Prom, a French independent energy company with an impressive track record in E & P operations in Gabon, Republic of Congo, Tanzania and Colombia acquired 45% equity in SEPLAT with Shebah E & P and Platform retaining 55% to maintain SEPLAT’s indigenous status.
The consortium successfully completed the acquisition of 45% stakes in three onshore Oil Mining Licenses (OMLs 4, 38, 41) from Shell/Total/Agip in July 2010. The transfer of assets by international operators (Shell/Total/Agip) to an indigenous company was greeted with global acclaim as a landmark transaction in the Nigerian upstream petroleum industry. With this acquisition, SEPLAT pioneered a new trend in Local Capacity Development for Independents in the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Industry.
At acquisition, the balance 55% stake in OML 4, 38 and 41 was held by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) but on September 3, 2010, it transferred this to its subsidiary, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) Ltd.
SEPLAT is the operator of the SEPLAT/NPDC Joint Venture. The company is committed to protecting the health and safety of its employees, contractors and the communities where it operates as well as promoting business practices that do not harm the environment. SEPLAT is devoted to building and sustaining an inclusive partnership with the host communities and delivering a wide range of social-economic benefits to the people from the communities.
