The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) has renewed its agreement with TotalEnergies to continue the deployment of advanced technology for detecting and reducing methane and carbon emissions in its upstream operations for another 24 months.
The agreement covers the use of the Airborne Ultralight Spectrometer for Environmental Applications (AUSEA), aimed at supporting NNPC’s gas flare reduction and decarbonisation goals.
NNPC said the initiative aligned with its Oil and Gas Decarbonisation Charter commitments, participation in the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP) 2.0, and its near-zero methane ambition by 2030.
The company disclosed this in a statement signed by its Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Andy Odeh.
It said the renewed deal builds on an earlier agreement signed in 2023 for the adoption of the AUSEA technology.
The agreement was signed at the NNPC Towers in Abuja by Executive Vice President, Upstream, Udy Ntia, and TotalEnergies Country Chair and Managing Director, Matthieu Bouyer.
Ntia expressed satisfaction with the initial phase of the project and called for wider deployment across more assets.
“Today’s signing represents a practical step in NNPC Limited’s journey to build a credible, transparent and action-oriented decarbonisation programme,” Ntia said.
He added that the initiative would help to strengthen the company’s ability to detect and quantify methane emissions using advanced measurement systems.
Ntia also called for structured reporting mechanisms in line with compliance standards and encouraged technology transfer opportunities.
TotalEnergies Senior Vice President for Africa, Mike Sangster, said the partnership with NNPC has been productive over the years.
He noted that TotalEnergies was the first oil producer in Nigeria to eliminate gas flaring across all its assets.
He added that the AUSEA technology has supported the company’s push toward near-zero methane emissions by 2030.
AUSEA is a drone-based system developed by TotalEnergies in collaboration with the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the University of Reims.
The technology is used to detect emission sources, improve reporting accuracy, and assess flare combustion efficiency.
