NNPC Limited has strengthened its commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by extending its partnership with TotalEnergies for the deployment of advanced methane detection technology across its upstream operations.
The renewed agreement will see the continued use of the Airborne Ultralight Spectrometer for Environmental Applications (AUSEA) technology for an additional 24 months, enabling the national oil company to enhance the detection, measurement and mitigation of methane leaks and carbon emissions.
The extension builds on an earlier agreement signed in 2023, under which the technology was first introduced to support NNPC Ltd’s environmental sustainability objectives. The initiative forms part of the company’s broader efforts to meet its gas flare reduction targets and fulfil commitments under the Oil and Gas Decarbonization Charter (OGDC), the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP) 2.0 framework, and its ambition of achieving near-zero methane emissions by 2030.
The agreement was formalised at the NNPC Towers in Abuja, where NNPC Ltd’s Executive Vice President, Upstream, Udy Ntia, and TotalEnergies Country Chair and Managing Director, Matthieu Bouyer, signed on behalf of their respective organisations.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Ntia described the extension as a significant milestone in NNPC Ltd’s sustainability journey, noting that the first phase of the technology deployment delivered encouraging results.
He said the company intends to broaden the application of the technology across more operational assets, adding that advanced monitoring systems such as AUSEA are critical to building a transparent and results-driven decarbonisation programme.
According to him, the initiative enhances NNPC Ltd’s capacity to accurately identify and quantify methane emissions, enabling the company to prioritise emission reduction measures and improve environmental performance. He also advocated for regular progress reporting and explored the possibility of transferring the technology to strengthen local capacity.
Also speaking, TotalEnergies’ Senior Vice President for Africa, Mike Sangster, commended the longstanding collaboration between both companies and reiterated TotalEnergies’ commitment to reducing emissions across its operations.
He noted that TotalEnergies was the first oil-producing company in Nigeria to eliminate routine gas flaring across all its assets, adding that the AUSEA technology played a key role in achieving that milestone. He expressed confidence that the continued deployment of the technology would support efforts toward attaining near-zero methane emissions by 2030.
Developed by TotalEnergies in partnership with France’s National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the University of Reims, AUSEA is a drone-based emissions monitoring system designed to detect and measure methane emissions with high precision.
The technology helps operators identify previously undetected emission sources, strengthen emissions reporting processes, evaluate operational systems, implement corrective measures, and assess flare combustion efficiency, making it a valuable tool in the drive toward cleaner and more sustainable energy production.
