TotalEnergies attains zero flaring in upstream operations

Adebayo Obajemu

French oil giant, TotalEnergies EP Nigeria Limited, has attained a milestone of zero routine flaring in its operations, achieving a record of being the first upstream company in the country to have stopped routine flaring from all its facilities.

Routine flare-out is the stoppage of continuous gas flaring above the nominal safety capacity of an oil and gas facility.

Making the achievement known in Port Harcourt after an inspection tour of OML100, the Country Chair and Managing Director, TotalEnergies Nigeria, Mr. Matthieu Bouyer, stated that in the past years, the company had 300 to 350 kSm3 per day of routine flaring, which has now reduced to zero.

Bouyer, said that the gas previously flared from the company’s operations was now valorized and used for power generation, gas lift to enhance oil and gas production, and the balance exported to Bonny to be liquefied in Nigeria LNG.

According to him the feat was a milestone for the company and the country at large, as it will cut down on emissions and increase production, while also commending the Federal Ministry of Environment, NUPRC and NNPC Ltd for the support.

He said, “The objective of this project is double; Reduce our emissions: our Company objective is to fully stop routine flaring in the Company by 2030. On that standpoint we are in advance in Nigeria since we stopped end 2023.

“Increase energy production: by stopping routine flaring, we are able to valorize the gas, thereby creating value for the country.

“This achievement is one of the practical demonstrations of TotalEnergies Commitment to deliver less carbon-intensive energy to our customers and also aligns with the Nigerian government’s objective to foster a low carbon economy. In a nutshell, it is more energy for less emissions.”

Speaking on whether the company’s future projects will flare gas, he stated that the company’s new projects have a mandatory non routine flaring design.

“The rule is that any new project should improve the emissions intensity of our operations. For example, our recent projects such as Egina and Ikike were stared-up without flaring.”

He mentioned other initiatives taken to reduce emissions revolved around CO2 (carbon dioxide) and CH4 (methane) emissions reduction in its operations through mobilization of best available technologies around three pillars.

These pillars, according to the company, include reducing methane emissions, reducing fuel gas consumption and reducing flaring further on its facilities.

“Reducing methane emissions is a priority, and TotalEnergies intends to establish an exemplary track record in this area. AUSEA drone campaigns allow us to detect and measure Methane emissions on site so we can take actions towards reducing or eliminating such emissions. We work alongside our partners to implement such best practices on our non-operated assets as well.

“Reducing fuel gas consumption: we develop energy efficiency technologies to reduce our consumption of fuel gas and liquid fuels. For example, we use solar technology onshore with a 5MWp solar project at our OML58 field. It will contribute to produce a cleaner oil and gas from the field.

“Reducing flaring further on our facilities. Work is done for routine flaring, and we study the next step which is reducing further the safety flaring.”