Emmanuel

"Total gave us a ladder to climb on shoulders of great men and women to see the future and proffer solutions in the fast paced world."

Emmanuel is the 2014 Best Graduating Student of the Institute of Petroleum Studies (IPS), University of Port Harcourt – a postgraduate institution designed to develop local capacity for the oil and gas industry in Nigeria. Established in 2003, the institution is an international education collaboration between the NNPC/Total E&P Joint Venture, the University of Port Harcourt and the Institut Français du Pétrole (IFP), France.

What can you tell us about yourself? Any interests or hobbies? 

Prior to my IPS studies, I combined working as a design civil engineer with my schooling, after which I was engaged as a methods engineer on Total’s OML58 upgrade project. It is my desire to be a chief executive someday. I am acquiring skills to manage people and organisations, as well as build capacity for voluntary causes related to children and the needy.

My favourite hobby is talking. I have flair in communicating with people and telling jokes. I also enjoy playing video games and football as well as travelling.

In your experience, what is the most important contribution the IPS is making in Nigeria?

IPS is a testimony of Total’s foremost impact of value creation for the oil and gas industry. Through the exposure of students at IPS to industry experts and faculty from IFP, Total facilitated world-class knowledge transfer. Total gave us a ladder to climb on shoulders of great men and women to see the future and proffer solutions in the fast paced world. During our studies we had access to rig sites, flow stations, conferences and exhibitions which rounded up my learning experience, thereby enabling me to be the best.

How has your studies at IPS assisted Total’s commitment to better energies?

Total has been present along the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) value chain demonstrating responsibility for efficient production. My research and simulations was therefore concerned with finding an ingenious solution to LNG process operational difficulty. I worked on an LNG process to optimize the liquid absorbent in order to reduce foaming, an operational difficulty that causes poor products, frequent plant instability and shutdown and less efficient production and to improve Co₂ removal from the sweetened gas.

The title of my research project was “Liquid Absorbent Optimization to Reduce Foaming Challenges and Improve Co₂ Removal in Natural Gas Process Plants”. My study findings alongside developed correlations, would improve production efficiency which translates to better efficiency both in production operation and in cost. The project is in perfect congruence with Total’s responsibility as it has contributed greatly to reducing gas flaring and improving energy efficiency.

What would you consider to be the greatest impact of IPS on your life?

I am most inspired by the level of commitment that Total has put in the IPS programme. We wouldn’t have been able to easily access the scholars of IFP School, France, several African scholars and even renowned Total staff who transferred great deal of knowledge to us. Some faculty come all the way from Pau and Paris. Total makes it a point of duty to maintain the standard of IPS since inception 11years ago.