The Federal Executive Council has approved a $21 million project to install meters at all 187 crude oil flow stations in the Niger Delta.
Minister of Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, announced this at a media briefing in Abuja on Friday, stating that the initiative aims to ensure accurate accounting of the country’s crude oil production using digital platforms.
Lokpobiri also mentioned that part of this digital strategy includes implementing a system to track all crude oil vessels from their point of origin in the Niger Delta to their final destinations worldwide.
“One of the key approvals of the Federal Executive Council that held on Wednesday has to do with awarding a contract of metering of about 187 flow stations across the Niger Delta region of Nigeria for the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
“NUPRC is the apex regulatory agency for the Nigerian oil and gas upstream sector. And as part of our steps to ensure that we have proper accountability, the Federal Executive Council approved the metering of all our production and we have a hundred and eighty seven flow stations in the country littered across the Niger Delta area.
“There was a contract awarded for us to metre all flow stations that will give us a proper account of what we produce and what we export. It is a major development that has never happened in this country.”
The Minister stated that this project is meant to be completed in six months, within a hundred and eighty days.
Lokpobiri also disclosed that another memo was approved by FEC for “advance cargo”, which tracks when cargo is loaded at terminals, all the way to the point of destination.
“The second memo that was approved by council has to do with what we call advance cargo which means you award a contract to a company that will provide the technology within the same period (180 days) to enable us know from the point of loading of every cargo of crude oil that is loaded in Nigeria up to the point of destination,” he said.
He added that this will ensure cargo loading is monitored through digital technology until it is delivered at the final destination.