The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) has renewed its agreement with TotalEnergies to extend the deployment of the Airborne Ultralight Spectrometer for Environmental Applications (AUSEA) technology for the detection, measurement and reduction of methane and carbon emissions across its upstream operations for another 24 months.
The renewed agreement is aimed at supporting NNPC Ltd’s gas flare reduction obligations in line with its commitments under the Oil and Gas Decarbonisation Charter (OGDC), participation in the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP) 2.0, and its ambition to achieve near-zero methane emissions by 2030.
The agreement, which follows an earlier partnership signed in 2023 for the adoption of the AUSEA technology, was signed at the NNPC Towers in Abuja by the Executive Vice President, Upstream, NNPC Ltd, Mr Udy Ntia, and the Country Chair and Managing Director of TotalEnergies in Nigeria, Mr Matthieu Bouyer.
Speaking during the signing ceremony, Mr Ntia expressed satisfaction with the results recorded during the first phase of the technology’s deployment and advocated its expansion across more operational assets.
He said the renewed partnership represents a practical step in NNPC Ltd’s drive to build a credible, transparent and action-orientated decarbonisation programme.
According to him, the AUSEA initiative strengthens the company’s capacity to detect, quantify and prioritise methane abatement opportunities through advanced measurement technology.
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Mr Ntia also called for the institutionalisation of progress reporting to ensure compliance with environmental obligations and explored the possibility of technology transfer to enhance local capacity.
In his remarks, TotalEnergies’ senior vice president for Africa, Mr Mike Sangster, commended the longstanding cooperation between both organisations.
He noted that TotalEnergies was the first oil-producing company in Nigeria to eliminate routine gas flaring across all its assets, attributing the achievement in part to the deployment of the AUSEA technology.
Mr Sangster reaffirmed the company’s commitment to achieving near-zero methane emissions by 2030.
The AUSEA technology is a drone-based emissions monitoring system developed by TotalEnergies in partnership with the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the University of Reims.
The technology enables the identification of previously unaccounted emission sources, improves emissions reporting processes, supports operational reviews and corrective actions, and helps estimate flare combustion efficiency.
