'OML 58 Projects will contribute to meeting national ... - TOTAL Nigeria

50 YEARS IN NIGERIA‘OML 58 Projects will contribute to meeting national objectiveof improved energy supply’ – MusaMR. MUSA Ahmadu Kida is Project General Manager, JV Onshore Projects. His portfolio is abasket of projects which testifies to the current growth profile of the company in Nigeria. Thesignificance of the projects is further underlined by the fact that the company’s 50 th year ofoperations in Nigeria is witnessing these massive investments. He spoke on the projects andtheir impact on the larger Nigerian economy.Excerpts:

On the quantum of JV Onshore projectsThe Onshore projects consist of the OML 58Upgrade project which is localized on Ogbogu ‘Just to put numbers, we have close toflow station and Obite gas treatment centre. 3,400-3,500 people working on site outThe second project is the Obite-Ubeta-Rumujiof which 3,000 come from the(OUR) pipeline, a 45inch, 42 km pipeline tocommunity. So we are quite proud thatat the end of the exercise, we wouldconvey gas from OML 58 to Rumuji and part ofhave people that have competencies init to NLNG, Bonny. A continuation of that linesuch a way that they can work reliablycalled the Northern Option Pipeline (NOPL) is a on any site within their chosen trade.’24inch, 50-60km line that will convey domesticgas from the Obite-Ubeta-Rumuji (OUR) pipelineto Alaoji IPP, through Imo river. These are the projects we have on ground.Apart from these, there is the IPP that will soon be sanctioned at Obite where it isgoing to get its gas and supply electricity to the national grid. There is anotherproject that is being sanctioned which is related to the IPP, the High VoltageTransmission line from OML 58 (Obite) to Onitsha that will deliver the electricityproduced by the IPP from Obite to the National grid. That is about 440 megawattselectricity that will be transported through our 330 kilo volts high tension lines wewill be constructing to Onitsha.On the key characteristics of projectsI will take them one by one. The OML 58 Upgrade will drill some gas wells at theIbewa cluster, modify the plants in Obite and Obagi, capture most of the associatedgaswhich will be compressed so that it can be monetised, thereafter be exported toBonny or sent through the O-U-R pipes as domestic gas to Alaoji. In doing that, thereis going to be a second train of five million cubic metres per day to be added to theexisting 10.65million Train in Obite . So in essence the Upgrade has as a priorityobjective to increase the output of gas that is exported from the field from 10 millioncubic metres per day to 15.5million cubic metres per day.A second and also important objective of the Upgrade Project is the standardizationof the site HSE wise so that all the safety and risk mitigation features that areinstalled will conform to modern day standards, while revamping the old systems.

A principal objective for all projects is the empowerment and capacity building of thehost communities which is treated as a standalone issue is being monitored on a daytoday, week-to-week basis. And we hope to achieve all these objectives at the endof the project.For O-U-R, it is a 42km new pipeline that is to convey the new gas volumes ofupgrade that will expedited from Obite all the way to Rumuji, and connected toexisting lines to Bonny. The Northern Option Pipeline (NOPL) is a 24” spur line fromthe OUR connecting Rumuji to Alaoji which is basically for domestic gas. As youknow, the Federal Government has established as its priority energy provision to thecountry part of which will come from the supply of electricity. The necessity toconstruct this line stems from the fact that We have been nominated by thegovernment to provide gas to Alaoji IPP plant.The other project which is on line is the IPP, the production of 440 megawatts ofelectricity to the national grid. So there is the construction of the plant in Obite.Equally, in order to evacuate the electricity that will be produced, there will be theconstruction of a high voltage line from Obite to Onitsha where it will be put into thenational grid.On the significance of the projects to the communityThere are many ways the community has benefitted already from the projects. Weare not at the end at it all but we are very confident in the results we have obtainedand on a good track. First and foremost,‘My message is that the only thingthat is sustainable, the only thingthat sustains the view ofmanagement about you, is yourwork. So no matter how big or howsmall the work, challenging orunchallenging, as far you have beengiven that job to do, just do it the bestyou can.’employment of the people from thecommunity is paramount in our minds. Wehave signed MoUs with the community atthe level of the project in order to betransparent on what is coming to them.Typically, employment of the lower cadreis completely 100% from the company(unskilled), 60% of the semi-skilled is alsocoming from the community and half ofwhat we call management cadre is allocated to the community. Just to put numbers,we have close to 3,400-3,500 people working on site out of which 3,000 come fromthe community. So we are quite proud that at the end of the exercise, we would

have people that have competencies in such a way that they can work reliably on anysite within their chosen trade.We also have identified very clearly projects within the MoU, infrastructure projectsthat would enhance the livelihood of the community when we leave. We haveembarked on specific training by the company and also forced our contractors toalso have similar MoUs with the community. This means that the quality of peoplewe are going to get after the project would be sustainable quality.For Total, it means we are going to have more reserves and add 30 years of life to a50-year facility which is like a renewed birth of OML 58. This equally comes alongwith the construction of a 270 accommodation within the field logistic base in Obagito ensure the security and health of our workers on site are appreciably improved.For the country, what is very paramount and putting it in in the context moreimportant than oil is electricity. So the priority of the Federal Government has alwaysbeen in that direction in the past few years and total is doing its own bit by taking upsupply of domestic gas to IPP in Alaoji which is responsible for the 24inch NOPLbetween Rumuji and Imo River which subscribes to the Federal Government priorityto provide energy and also electricity to the country.We also have the IPP where we will be providing the electricity directly byconstructing a plant and channeling the electricity to the national grid and as suchproviding electricity to the people of Nigeria.On land mark achievement in HSEThe two fatalities that happened within the perimeter of the JV Onshore Projects atthe beginning of the year were the most traumatic period for the division. This cameespecially when we were getting ready to celebrate the HSE achievement of morethan 20 million man-hours of work without any Lost Time Incident. The investigationteams have completed their work and we have closed out most recommendations.The result being that we have better visibility and control of activities on our sites,while ensuring the proper levels of supervision are respected. The way forward forHSE for us is continuous vigilance with no complacency in analyzing and putting inplace mitigation measures of all risks.

Message for young engineersMy message is that the only thing that is sustainable, the only thing that sustains theview of management about you, is how well you are able to do your work. So nomatter how big or how small the work, challenging or unchallenging, as far you havebeen given that job to do, just do it the best you can. At the end of the day, that isthe only thing that will speak for you. So if you are able to do a job you considerbelow you very well, it means you are available to do bigger jobs or take on moreresponsibilities. But if on the other hand you don’t do it well, you are creating doubtsin the minds of your managers - since you cannot do this simple job, you cannot do amore complicated one.So my message is there is not any job that is below you, all jobs are importantenough for the Company to be done. Just do your job very well as that is what willinvariably speak for you in the future.