Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) Plc, the national conglomerate with 300,000 Nigerian shareholders, and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) signed at the weekend a production sharing contract for the exploration and production of OPL 281.
Under the agreement, Transcorp is committing to a work programme to prove and develop an estimated 104 million barrels of oil reserves, an additional 335 million barrels of probable reserves, and approximately four trillion cubic feet (tcf) of natural gas reserves.
The addition of OPL 281 to its portfolio of oil and gas assets is another milestone in Transcorp’s strategy of creating Nigeria’s leading integrated energy company, operating in production, refining, power generation, petrochemical and fertiliser production.
The chairman of Transcorp, Tony Elumelu, said that “Integrating across the energy value chain is the foundation of Transcorp’s strategy. OPL 281’s gas reserves will be deployed directly into Nigeria’s power generation industry, as we seek to transform the economy of our country.”
Transcorp’s existing investment, the Ughelli Power Plant in Delta State, is undergoing extensive rehabilitation, adding 1,000MW to the existing 1,000 MW capacity, thus doubling the plant’s electricity output to 2000MW over the next three to five years, in collaboration with GE and other partners.
Ughelli is Nigeria’s largest gas-fired power generation facility and will be powered directly by the natural gas delivered from OPL 281.
“OPL 281 is rich with nearly 4 tcf of natural gas, and will support the newly-expanded Ughelli power plant for up to 25 years at 2000 MW per day,” Elumelu continued, adding, “This volume of reserves also guarantees 15 years of feedstock supply for our future fertiliser and petrochemical plants, which will utilise the gas stores to bring value for Nigerians locally, instead of the wastage in flaring and environmental destruction that has historically characterised the industry.”
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