Nigeria’s NNPC, Heirs Restore Gas Facility, Doubling Output

(Bloomberg) -- Nigerian National Petroleum Co. and Heirs Energies have restored production at a gas facility that had been offline for more than a year, enabling the joint venture to double output and increase supplies to power producers struggling with fuel shortages.

A gas well in Oil Mining Lease 17 that was shut due to excessive water production was restored last month, an Heirs Energies spokeswoman said by phone Thursday. The restoration, “doubled the JV’s gas output to a peak of 135 million standard cubic feet per day, delivering a significant boost to domestic gas supply and strengthening the nation’s energy security,” the company said separately in an emailed statement on Wednesday.

Natural gas underpins most of Nigeria’s grid power, yet years of underinvestment, vandalism and unpaid bills have left plants chronically short of fuel, worsening blackouts and forcing reliance on costly diesel.

The restored OML 17 facility is already making a difference: Transcorp’s Transafam Power has quadrupled output to more than 180 megawatts from an average of 50 megawatts a day, Heirs Energies said in the statement. Electricity generation companies, including First Independent Power Ltd. and Geometric Power, have seen combined output surge to more than 350 megawatts from around 100 megawatts, it said.

Nigeria, Africa’s most-populous nation, is pushing for greater investment in its abundant natural gas resources to boost power generation and reduce chronic blackouts. Major producers including Shell Plc, Chevron Corp., TotalEnergies SE and Seplat Energy Plc are increasing gas output and supplying power firms in a bid to strengthen electricity supply for industries and households.

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