NNPC, TotalEnergies Extend  Drone‑based Methane Detection Monitoring Technology Utilisation By 24‑month 

 The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) and TotalEnergies on Wednesday signed a 24‑month extension of their agreement to deploy the Airborne Ultralight Spectrometer for Environmental Applications (AUSEA) — a drone‑based methane detection technology — across NNPC’s upstream operations, a move the companies said will strengthen emission measurement, help identify unreported leaks and support Nigeria’s commitment to reduce gas flaring and achieve near‑zero methane emissions by 2030 under the Oil & Gas Decarbonisation Charter and OGMP 2.0.

The agreement, which is aimed at helping NNPC Ltd meet its gas flare reduction obligation in keeping with its Oil & Gas Decarbonisation Charter (OGDC) commitments, Oil & Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP) 2.0 participation and near-zero methane ambition by 2030, is a follow up on an earlier agreement signed in 2023 for the adoption of the AUSEA technology, stated NNPC spokesman, Andy Odeh on Wednesday

The agreement was signed by NNPC Ltd’s executive vice president, Upstream, Udy Ntia and TotalEnergies country chair and managing director, Matthieu Bouyer, on behalf of their respective companies, at the NNPC Towers, in Abuja, on Wednesday.

Speaking at the occasion, Ntia expressed satisfaction with the first phase of the deployment of the technology, stressing that he would like to see it scaled across more assets.

“Today’s signing represents a practical step in NNPC Limited’s journey to build a credible, transparent and action-oriented decarbonization programme. Through the AUSEA initiative, we are strengthening our ability to detect, quantify and prioritise methane abatement opportunities using advanced measurement technology,” Ntia added.

He also called for the institutionalisation of progress reporting, in line with compliance requirements and the possibility of leveraging transfer of the AUSEA technology.

On his part, TotalEnergies’ senior vice president, Africa,  Mike Sangster, expressed satisfaction with the cooperation his company has enjoyed from NNPC over the years, stressing that TotalEnergies was the first oil producing company in Nigeria to end gas flaring in all its assets and that the AUSEA technology was instrumental to that feat, even as the company looks forward to near-zero methane emissions by 2030.

AUSEA is a drone-based technology developed by TotalEnergies in partnership with the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the University of Reims.

It helps in the identification of unaccounted emission sources, establishment of basis for querying and improving current emission reporting processes, provision of data to review operational system and implement corrective actions, as well as estimation of flare combustion efficiency.