By Yange Ikyaa
A new technology which has been recently brought to Nigeria by Revoseal is expected to help curb the 200,000 barrels-per-day crude oil loss that the country suffers due to shutdowns in the process of repairing leakages in oil and gas pipelines.
Engr. Paul Agbo, who is the Regional Manager for Revoseal in West Africa, disclosed this during an exclusive interview with Valuechain during the just concluded Nigerian Oil and Gas (NOG) Energy Week in Abuja.
The new technology, he said, was brought into Nigeria from South Africa, which was the first country on the continent to use it. According to him, it is a new kind of technology that is essentially used to repair leakages in pipes without having to shut down the facility.
His words: “We came across it and we do a lot of emergency repairs where we also have to do a lot of shutdown, and when they shut down, there is a downtime and there is also loss of equity in excess of about 200,000 barrels per day. So, we basically have to use something that can close the gap, especially considering the spate of pipeline vandalism in this country.
“How it works is in two parts; one is what we call inject seal and it is a kind of composite material that is made to repair or cure leakages and it has a lifespan of 15 years. So, if you have a depreciated asset, it can actually increase the integrity of your asset.
“Then, the second technology that has not been tried in Nigeria yet is a means of inline inspection without pigging it. What it does is that, while you are still producing without shutting down, your line can be inspected.”
This technology, Valuechain learnt, has been in use in Holland and also in America in the Gulf of Mexico by Chevron, as well as in France by TotalEnergies, with other deployments of the technology in Tajikistan and South Africa.
The only place where it has been in use in Africa before is in South Africa and they are the ones bringing it to Nigeria.
Engr. Agbo told Valuechain that “already, we are in talks with Chevron Nigeria because we were recommended to them by our OEM partners based in South Africa and, then, we are also in talks with TotalEnergies, through their different business units.”