Oil and Gas innovation such as the Alternative Crude Evacuation System (AES) powered by Nestoil Limited could save the industry $75 billion a year by 2023.
The company decided on the innovation so as to find a means of curbing the constant problems of pipeline vandalism, oil theft and grow the revenue base of the country.
The AES is a process where the regular downtimes caused by technical issues to the pipelines carrying crude oil, and vandalism which make oil producers unable to meet export targets, will be negated through another method of evacuating the oil by barges
With the modified system and facilities designed and built by Nestoil Group of Companies and its affiliates, the liquid that comes out from the wellhead has four constituents – oil, water, gas, and sediments known as wet crude, and the wet crude needs to be processed to get export grade crude oil.
But in the first step, the processing wet crude oil is fed into a 3-phase separator where sediment, oil, water, and gas are separated with the crude further fed into an electrostatic heater treater where it is further treated to remove gas and water to meet export requirements (dry crude).
The ready-for-export dry crude is then pumped to the loading platform where it is stored in a dump barge/Vessel. Shuttle vessels come to load the crude and transport to the FSO Ugo Ocha offshore, where buyer’s vessels load the crude.
This process bypasses crude handling charges and potential theft through the Trans Forcados Pipeline (TFP).
Ifeanyi Ezuka, Chief Technical Officer, Neconde Energy limited, a subsidiary of Nestoil said the innovation is the latest testament to Nestoil’s growing reputation as an innovative company that constantly seeks proprietary ways of working in difficult terrains and also borne out of necessity due to the downtime recorded on Forcados terminal when moving their products there.
Elucidating the importance of the innovation to the country’s oil industry, he said the usual losses or leakages associated with pipeline issues are eliminated, meaning that they now have control of the complete value chain to deliver specific volumes from the well-head to the terminal.
Also, bankers now take them seriously than before because they know and appreciate the certainty of their operations, while there is also a significant drop in redundancy.
The challenge of developing the system, he posited, was a combination of technology, logistics, and resilience as they looked at the fundamentals of what is required to be able to carry it out rather than putting it on a pipe, then they put it on a barge and send it out. So from the technical side, what are the type of barges needed? What is the draft of the river? How deep is the river from the place of loading to where they want to go? So how far is where they are to the closest terminal? So all of those technical assessments and analysis they got right.
The other challenge, Ezuka said, was the regulatory approvals that will be needed. “So who do you need to talk to get approval? What kind of approvals do you need? Particularly when it comes with a very new space even the regulators will want to be very careful not to over regulate.
So it then requires a lot of collaboration from you explaining to the regulators what you want to do to the point that they understand and then they’re able to also work with you on the regulations that are required.
“We engaged the communities too and you have to do all of these to be a responsible corporate citizen. Also on the list, the Navy and the military as well because you carrying crude, they need to be able to understand that you are not one of the bunkers, that you’re carrying a legitimate crude, and you’re going to get the required approval”.
He said other oil firms have started to take notice and have reached out to them on how to leverage on the service.
“We are also ready to collaborate, synergize and provide the same service to those that needed us to help move their products using the system, which will be a plus for all as it saves overhead cost they could have expended on building theirs”, he added.
Temitayo Ayetoto
