BI AFRICA
By Dr Victor Ekpenyong – Chief Executive Officer, Kenyon International
In life, and certainly in the global energy market, taking advantage of the opportunities that present themselves is paramount. When the war in Ukraine broke out in early 2022, global energy demand shifted dramatically, leading to price surges. For operators in the Gulf of Guinea, this presented significant commercial value and a critical window for growth. Capturing this value, however, requires something our local industry has historically struggled with: speed.
For decades, Nigeria’s oil and gas sector has relied on legacy infrastructure and traditional operational methods. Today, the landscape is undergoing a massive structural shift. As legacy International Oil Companies (IOCs) execute multi-billion-dollar exits from onshore and shallow-water assets, a new narrative is taking shape, and it is being driven by indigenous expertise, rapid technological innovation, and an urgency to modernise.
The Imperative of Speed and Modernisation
A major challenge for Nigerian operators is the maturity of our assets. Many fields were discovered in the 1950s and 60s, and developed decades ago. Operators are constantly forced to weigh the cost of halting production to replace an expired pipeline against the temporary, risky cost of patching it. Because laying traditional carbon steel takes an enormous amount of time and resources, requiring heavy equipment, extensive welding, and rigorous non-destructive testing, the hesitation to replace infrastructure is understandable.
But with global oil prices surging, missing out on production is highly detrimental. We looked at regions like West Texas in the United States, where companies drill and produce relentlessly. To bridge our own logistical and infrastructural gaps, Kenyon International partnered with Houston-based FlexSteel to bring Reinforced Thermoplastic Pipes (RTP) technology to Nigeria.
We recently deployed this unbonded flexible pipeline system at OML 123, a first for Nigeria. By moving away from legacy carbon steel, we achieved profound results:
- Unprecedented Speed: An installation that would have taken over a year with traditional steel was completed in less than 90 days, reducing active installation time by 80%.
- Asset Longevity: The composite technology is engineered for a 30- to 50-year design life, operating without the need for continuous inspection, corrosion, or leak-related downtime that plagues legacy lines.
- Immediate Economic Impact: We saved the operator massive deferment costs, rapidly boosting production.
If we aggressively deploy this technology to revamp the hundreds of kilometres of expired pipelines in our shallow waters and land swamps, Nigeria could easily hit our target of 2 million barrels of oil per day without even drilling new wells.
As IOCs transfer operations to local consortia, there has been whispered concern about a potential maintenance gap. Can indigenous hands be trusted to handle these massive brownfield assets?
My answer is an unequivocal yes. The OML 123 project was executed entirely by indigenous companies. Local operators are investing heavily to revamp these assets and are using homegrown service companies to do so. Nigeria is blessed with incredibly smart, technically sound experts. As a member of the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN), I see firsthand how Nigerian companies are not just surviving; we are exporting technology and expertise to Kuwait, India, Uganda, and beyond. The departure of the IOCs does not signal the decline of the Nigerian oil and gas industry; it marks our true coming of age.
Unlocking Our Gas Frontier
Beyond oil, our future is undeniably tethered to gas. Nigeria holds over 30 billion barrels in oil reserves, but we are sitting on a staggering 210 trillion cubic feet of gas. With a gas reserve life index of roughly 92.7 years, we are a premier gas nation.
Historically, regulatory uncertainty stalled massive foreign investments. Today, the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) is working exactly as intended. It is serving as the ultimate catalyst, unlocking Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) and global capital for deepwater and gas monetisation projects that were held back for years.
While only about 1.5% of our gas has been unlocked to date, the funding attracted by the PIA is paving the way for the physical infrastructure to catch up. We are already seeing significant milestones, such as NNPC’s recent river-crossing pipeline for the domestic market. Flexible pipeline technology will play a major role in this rollout, allowing us to transport gas to domestic industrial consumers faster than legacy methods ever could.
A Pan-African Vision
Looking ahead, regional energy integration is taking centre stage. The ambitious 7,000-kilometre Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline, which will cut across 14 West African countries to ultimately supply Europe, is a testament to what is possible.
Crucially, these massive networks will be built by Africans. Nigerian companies will spearhead the Nigerian side of the project, while other African firms will tie in their respective ends. This mega-project sends a clear message to the world: massive infrastructure developments do not have to rely solely on foreign multinationals.
The playbook for Nigeria’s and Africa’s energy sector is being rewritten. We are no longer just keeping the lights on; we are modernising the entire operation, and we are doing it with our own hands.
About the Author
Dr Victor Ekpenyong is an engineer, energy executive, and the Founder and CEO of Kenyon International West Africa. With over two decades of industry experience across global energy companies such as Total, he specialises in upstream asset optimisation, well intervention, and technical problem-solving. A passionate advocate for local technical capacity, his team recently made history by deploying Nigeria’s first unbonded flexible pipeline system, safely compressing traditional project timelines by 80 percent. He holds a B.Eng from the Federal University of Technology, Owerri; an MBA from the Business School Netherlands; and has completed studies at Harvard Business School and Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford. He serves on the African Advisory Board of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE).