The Ubeta Gas Field Project is a low-emission and low-cost development in the onshore Oil Mining Lease (OML) 58 in Nigeria.
The field was discovered in 1964.
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OML 58 licence partners TotalEnergies (40%, operator) and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPCL) (60%) took the Final Investment Decision (FID) for the development of the Ubeta gas field in June 2024.
The project will be developed with a total investment of $550m and it is expected to commence production in 2027.
Once operational, the onshore development will contribute to the economy of Nigeria by increasing Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) exports. It is also expected to create job opportunities and value for the stakeholders.
Ubeta Gas Field Location
The Ubeta Gas Field in OML 58 is located north-west of Port Harcourt in the eastern part of the Niger Delta.
The OML 58 licence, about 80km northwest of Port Harcourt in Rivers State, already has two fields in production- the Obagi oil field and the Ibewa gas and condensate field.
Production from the two fields is processed in the Obite treatment centre and then delivered to the Nigerian domestic gas market and to Nigeria LNG (NLNG) plant.
Ubeta Gas Development Details
The Ubeta Gas Development will comprise a new six-well cluster (Ubeta Production Cluster, UPC), a tie-in to the existing Obite Treatment Centre (OTC) and facilities, and a buried 11km long pipeline.
The Hydraulic Power Unit (HPU) and a Well Head Control Panel (WHCP) for hydraulic supply and control of actuated valves controlled from the Obite site.
The UPC will feature six-production well heads with six spares for future, and six flowlines (NPS 8) connecting well heads to a 16-production manifold, and one Multiphase Flow Measurement (MPFM) for each flowline for well multiphase fluid production metering and testing.
Each flowline will have a transfer rate of 2.5 million standard cubic metres per day (msm3/d).
The other components of the development will include a 16-inch production manifold, a 16-inch Carbon Steel (CS) pipeline, a pig launcher for the export pipeline, a chemical injection package (corrosion inhibitor), and mobile chemical injection packages, and an injected upstream wellhead choke valve.
The 16-inch production manifold will export the production fluid to the OTC via a 16-inch CS pipeline at an expected peak rate of 10msm3/d.
The UPC will be connected to the existing OTC and facilities via an 11km- long pipeline buried at 1.2m depth.
To further reduce the carbon intensity of the project, a 5MW solar plant will be constructed at the Obite site and the drilling rig will be electrified.
Once on stream, the project will produce with a plateau of 300 million cubic feet per day (mcf/d) of gas, equivalent to about 70,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) including condensates.
The field will supply gas to the NLNG liquefaction plant located on Bonny Island. The capacity of the plant is currently being expanded from 22 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) to 30mtpa.
TotalEnergies holds a 15% stake in the plant.
The project’s UPC will receive power from the existing switchboard at OTC via an underground High-Voltage (HV) power cable with emergency use provisions.
Ubeta Gas Development Contractor
The Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) and Detailed Engineering and Design (DED) contract of the project was awarded to NETCO, a wholly-owned subsidiary of energy company NNPC. The duration of the contract is three years.
The scope of the contract works includes the development of Ubeta Gas Field and tie-in to existing Ubite Treatment Center inlet manifold and ancillary brownfield activities.
Specifically, this includes the design of an HPU and a WHCP, an unmanned well pad, the cluster and flowlines, a production manifold, a pig launcher for the export pipeline, a chemical injection package (corrosion inhibitor for the 16-inch pipeline) and mobile chemical injection packages (methanol).
The contract scope also includes an injected upstream wellhead choke valve and power supply via an underground cable.
