Wednesday, July 30, 2008

ExxonMobil announces new $1.3 billion natural gas project in Nigeria

By Pegasus News wire

IRVING — Exxon Mobil Corporation announced that its affiliate has commenced operations of a $1.3 billion project in Nigeria to produce and sell natural gas liquids, providing a new source of energy and economic benefits while reducing environmental impacts. Operated by Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, an ExxonMobil affiliate, the East Area Natural Gas Liquids II project involves the recovery of 275 million barrels of natural gas liquids from associated gas produced in East Area reservoirs from Blocks OML 67, 68 and 70.

Photo not provided by Exxon, the Nigerian Royal Family

Exxon was initially tipped off about the natural gas by an unsolicited email from a local prince needing someone to share his immense wealth with

Major components of the project include an offshore natural gas liquids extraction complex, more than 125 miles (200 kilometers) of new natural gas and natural gas liquids pipelines and expansion of the existing onshore Bonny River Terminal for fractionation of the liquids into commercial products and offloading. The natural gas liquids project is part of an integrated approach to significantly reduce flaring in conjunction with the existing East Area Additional Oil Recovery project. The projects will significantly reduce flaring and improve oil recovery through reservoir pressure maintenance. In addition, the East Area NGL II project will produce at its peak about 50,000 barrels of natural gas liquids per day. It is designed to ultimately recover 275 million barrels of natural gas liquids and utilize 950 million standard cubic feet of gas daily.

“The East Area NGL II project was completed ahead of schedule with outstanding safety performance and demonstrates ExxonMobil’s ongoing commitment to helping meet the world’s growing need for energy. In addition, this project represents the first time a major oil and gas joint venture in Nigeria has completed a financing package exclusively through Nigerian financial institutions,” said Mark Albers, senior vice president of Exxon Mobil Corporation.

“Working together with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, we were also able to integrate innovative technical solutions into the project execution plan to significantly reduce flaring and maximize the value of the resource for our shareholders and the country of Nigeria.”

Source: ExxonMobil

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