CAPTION: 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
Nigeria’s national oil company, NNPC Limited, and global energy major TotalEnergies have strengthened their collaboration on methane emissions reduction with the renewal of an agreement to extend the deployment of the Airborne Ultralight Spectrometer for Environmental Applications (AUSEA) technology across NNPC’s upstream operations for an additional 24 months.
The renewed partnership underscores Nigeria’s growing commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the oil and gas sector and advancing the country’s broader decarbonization agenda.
The agreement, signed at the NNPC Towers in Abuja, builds on an earlier 2023 collaboration that introduced the innovative AUSEA technology for the detection, measurement, and mitigation of methane and carbon emissions. The initiative is expected to support NNPC Limited in meeting its gas flare reduction targets and fulfilling its commitments under the Oil & Gas Decarbonization Charter (OGDC), the Oil & Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP) 2.0 framework, and its ambition to achieve near-zero methane emissions by 2030.
The agreement was executed by NNPC Limited’s Executive Vice President, Upstream, Udy Ntia, and TotalEnergies Country Chair and Managing Director, Matthieu Bouyer, on behalf of their respective organizations.
Speaking during the signing ceremony, Ntia described the extension of the initiative as a significant milestone in NNPC’s decarbonization journey, highlighting the value of accurate emissions monitoring in driving meaningful climate action.
According to him, the deployment of AUSEA technology has enhanced the company’s capacity to identify, quantify, and prioritize methane emission reduction opportunities through advanced measurement and monitoring systems.
He noted that the success of the first phase of deployment has created an opportunity to scale the technology across additional assets and called for stronger institutional reporting mechanisms to ensure regulatory compliance, transparency, and continuous improvement. Ntia also emphasized the importance of exploring technology transfer opportunities to deepen local capacity in emissions management.
On his part, TotalEnergies Senior Vice President, Africa, Mike Sangster, commended the long-standing cooperation between both companies and reaffirmed TotalEnergies’ commitment to reducing operational emissions.
Sangster noted that TotalEnergies became the first oil-producing company in Nigeria to eliminate routine gas flaring across all of its operated assets, adding that the AUSEA technology played a critical role in achieving that milestone. He reiterated the company’s goal of reaching near-zero methane emissions by 2030.
Developed by TotalEnergies in partnership with the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the University of Reims, AUSEA is a drone-based emissions monitoring system designed to detect and measure methane and carbon emissions with high precision.
The technology enables operators to identify previously unaccounted emission sources, strengthen emissions reporting processes, evaluate operational performance, implement corrective measures, and assess flare combustion efficiency. By providing more accurate emissions data, AUSEA supports evidence-based decision-making and accelerates methane abatement efforts across oil and gas facilities.
The renewed collaboration comes at a time when global attention is increasingly focused on methane reduction as one of the fastest and most cost-effective strategies for slowing climate change. For Nigeria, which is seeking to balance energy security, economic development, and climate commitments, the deployment of advanced emissions monitoring technologies is expected to play a critical role in improving environmental performance and attracting climate-conscious investment into the energy sector.
As regulatory expectations tighten and investors place greater emphasis on environmental accountability, the NNPC-TotalEnergies partnership represents a notable step toward strengthening transparency, reducing operational emissions, and positioning Nigeria’s oil and gas industry for a lower-carbon future.
