Alpha-28 FastTrack Maturation to Execution – Securing Export Gas Supply

Abstract

In the global aspiration to meet an ever-increasing energy demand, fossil fuel and indeed natural gas plays a vital role both in energy security and energy transition. Natural gas is also a key driver of industrialization, a requirement for national growth and development. In the Niger Delta, problems with security & sabotage of hydrocarbon liquid evacuation pipelines as well as slippages in gas drilling projects has also led to shortages in gas supply, creating challenges in meeting contractual obligations to customers with attendant loss of revenue in a high oil & gas price regime. To harness Nigeria huge gas reserve in the current business climate, it is pertinent to arrest declining gas production caused by aging reservoirs & maximize utility of available ullage by accelerating maturation of gas resources. Quickly maturing a gas resource to market has become very important to meet contract shortfalls in the short term and to comply with the recent call for sustainable greener and cleaner energy for environmental reasons on a long term. Typically, the maturation and development of a gas project/well takes a minimum of two (2) years from identification to execution. Maturation of Alpha-28 well in the Alpha field, a brown field Niger Delta, Nigeria, took about 12 months from identification to execution. This was achieved by adopting a non-conventional project maturation. This leaner approach, which did not lose any aspect of the project assurance intents of the conventional approach, involved proper framing, risk assessment, scaling, flexibility, and proactive engagement of all relevant stakeholders to ensure alignment. This paper discusses what was done differently, the how and the learnings that are planned to be incorporated into future similar projects.