The Managing Director, Total Exploration and Production, Nigeria Limited, Mr Nicolas Terraz at the 34th Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists Annual Conference Management Session -1, in Lagos on Thursday, has said the company has made over $10bn investments in the country in the last five years.
Mr Terraz, at the conference which was tagged “Upstream Business Environment in a Recession Economy – Nigerian Example”, said that the company had added over 2.3 billion barrels of crude to Nigeria’s production from 1966 to 2015.
He said, “In the last five years alone, we have made approximately $10bn of investments in Nigeria. Through decades of executing development projects, Total’s activities have contributed to creating jobs and developing human capacity in Nigeria. Despite the challenging operating environment, Total remains strongly committed to the developments of its activities in the country, while working relentlessly to adapt to the current environment.”
The Managing Director further stated that “in September 2015, we achieved first oil from the Ofon Phase 2 Development Project, which increased production capacity from the Ofon field by 60,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. Development drilling is currently on-going to reach the production plateau. Beyond the incremental production, this project also eliminated routine flaring in Ofon field and allowed monetisation of the gas from Ofon. This was recognised by the World Bank – sponsored Global Gas Flaring Reduction Partnership, which gave an Excellence Award to our Ofon-2 Project on 9th September 2015, for this achievement.”
According to Mr Terraz, the environment required them to adapt and reduce cost without compromising safety while preparing for a future of growth or expansion, adding that the impact of the low oil price is not peculiar to Nigeria alone and that the country is particularly affected because a large part of its revenue comes from the hydrocarbon sector.
Terraz said that in addition to low oil price, Nigeria had also experienced a reduction in production volumes due to security issues. He said, “The current context is challenging for both the country and the industry. The Government is facing revenue shortages. Oil and gas companies, on their part, have to adapt to the present realities. This context, combined with funding challenges for the joint ventures, has resulted in the deferral of investments and a significant reduction in development drilling. This situation has also resulted in the loss of activity and jobs for contractors providing services to the industry.”