NLNG goes digital with software solutions deal

Baker Hughes, a GE company, said on Wednesday that it has agreed to provide Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited with Asset Performance Management Software and Services. The deal marks the first of such APM solutions sold and executed both in the LNG market and in sub-saharan Africa LNG industry.

Software solutions for LNG facilities in Nigeria could improve operational stability by as much as 20 per cent, Baker Hughes said.

The field services company said it was asked by NLNG Limited to come up with a software management system to support performance at a liquefaction plant at Bonny Island, Nigeria. With the program, Baker Hughes said it would work to reduce trips on the system by as much as 20 percent within three years.

"Asset Performance Management and similar digital solutions are crucial to securing the future of operations within the oil and gas industry, particularly in the LNG market," Maria Sferruzza, the president of LNG process solutions at Baker Hughes, said in a statement.

The digital technology uses GE software to improve reliability through sensors and connectivity.

Nigeria is an oil producer and a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). For gas, NLNG said its facilities have the capacity to produce as much as 22 million tons of LNG per year through the intake of 3.5 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.

Nigeria is exempt from an OPEC-led effort to balance an oversupplied global market for crude oil because it needs oil revenue to finance national security efforts. Explosions from an undisclosed origin occurred near two of its gas transmission pipelines in February.

In July, the U.N. Industrial Development Organization started a program to help Nigeria steer its economy away from oil. The Nigerian economy slipped into recession last year under the strains of lower oil prices and a decline in oil production.

Source:
M&P Nigeria