Nigeria’s national oil company and TotalEnergies have extended their collaboration on emissions management with a new 24-month agreement focused on enhancing methane detection, measurement and reduction across upstream operations.
The renewed pact was formalised in Abuja by NNPC Ltd.’s Executive Vice President for Upstream, Udy Ntia, and the Country Chair and Managing Director of TotalEnergies, Matthieu Bouyer.
According to a statement issued by NNPC Ltd.’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Andy Odeh, the agreement will facilitate the continued deployment of the Airborne Ultralight Spectrometer for Environmental Applications (AUSEA) technology across the company’s upstream assets.
The initiative is designed to support NNPC Ltd.’s commitment to reducing gas flaring and lowering greenhouse gas emissions in line with its obligations under the Oil and Gas Decarbonisation Charter, participation in the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP) 2.0, and its target of achieving near-zero methane emissions by 2030.
The extension builds on an earlier partnership signed in 2023, which introduced the AUSEA technology into the company’s operations.
Speaking on the development, Ntia expressed satisfaction with the outcomes recorded during the first phase of deployment and voiced optimism that the technology would be expanded to cover additional assets.
He described the renewed agreement as a significant step toward strengthening the company’s decarbonisation strategy through improved transparency and practical action.
Ntia noted that the technology enhances the organisation’s capacity to identify, quantify and prioritise methane reduction opportunities using advanced monitoring systems.
He also advocated regular progress reporting to meet compliance requirements and encouraged discussions on technology transfer opportunities.
Also commenting, TotalEnergies’ Senior Vice President for Africa, Mike Sangster, commended the longstanding cooperation between the two companies.
He noted that TotalEnergies became the first oil-producing company in Nigeria to eliminate routine gas flaring across all its assets, adding that the AUSEA system played a key role in achieving that milestone.
Sangster reaffirmed the company’s commitment to achieving near-zero methane emissions by 2030.
AUSEA is a drone-based emissions monitoring technology jointly developed by TotalEnergies, the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the University of Reims.
The system is designed to detect previously unidentified emission sources, improve the accuracy of emissions reporting, support operational reviews and corrective actions, and assess flare combustion efficiency, thereby contributing to more effective environmental management across oil and gas operations.