By Seun Ibiyemi
The NNPC Limited has renewed its partnership with TotalEnergies to extend the deployment of the Airborne Ultralight Spectrometer for Environmental Applications (AUSEA) technology for methane detection, measurement, and reduction across its upstream operations for another 24 months.
The agreement is aimed at supporting NNPC Ltd’s efforts to meet its gas flare reduction obligations in line with its Oil & Gas Decarbonization Charter (OGDC) commitments, participation in the Oil & Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP) 2.0, and its target of achieving near-zero methane emissions by 2030.
NNPC Ltd’s Executive Vice President, Upstream, Udy Ntia (2nd from right) and TotalEnergies Country Chair and Managing Director, Matthieu Bouyer (1st from left), signing an MoU to extend the deployment of the Airborne Ultralight Spectrometer for Environmental Applications (AUSEA) technology for the detection, measurement, and reduction of methane and carbon emission across upstream operations for another 24 months. The MoU was signed at the NNPC Towers in Abuja, on Wednesday.
The renewal agreement was signed at the NNPC Towers in Abuja by NNPC Ltd’s Executive Vice President, Upstream, Udy Ntia, and TotalEnergies Country Chair and Managing Director, Matthieu Bouyer.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Ntia said the initiative represents a practical step in building a credible and action-driven decarbonisation programme, noting that the AUSEA technology strengthens the company’s capacity to detect, quantify, and prioritise methane abatement opportunities.
He added that there is a need for institutionalised progress reporting in line with compliance requirements, as well as exploring opportunities for technology transfer and broader deployment across more assets.
On his part, TotalEnergies Senior Vice President for Africa, Mike Sangster, expressed satisfaction with the ongoing collaboration, noting that TotalEnergies was the first oil-producing company in Nigeria to eliminate gas flaring across its assets.
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He said the AUSEA technology played a key role in achieving that milestone, adding that the company remains committed to supporting efforts toward near-zero methane emissions by 2030.
The AUSEA system, a drone-based technology developed by TotalEnergies in collaboration with the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the University of Reims, is designed to identify unaccounted emission sources, improve emission reporting accuracy, and support corrective operational actions, while also estimating flare combustion efficiency.
The partnership underscores growing efforts within Nigeria’s oil and gas sector to adopt advanced technologies in support of environmental sustainability and global climate commitments.
