By Gbenga Adedayo
Nigeria LNG Limited inched closer to signing a Final Investment Decision (FID) for construction of Train 7, Wednesday, with the signing of Letter of Intent (LOI) for the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) of the project with the preferred bidder.
The winning bidder of the Turnkey multi-billion project is a consortium known as SCD – Saipem Chiyoda and Daewoo.
Speaking during the ceremony, Managing Director of NLNG, Tony Attah described the signing as a milestone leading the company closer to FID on Train 7. He said Train 7 will increase the production capacity of the company by 35%, attract over $10 Billion foreign direct investment to Nigeria and additionally create about 10,000 jobs.
Deputy Managing Director, Sadeeq Mai-Bornu assured that with Train 7, “NLNG will maintain Nigeria’s place in global gas market and continue to support our domestic LPG consumption through our commitment of 350 million tonnes of LPG to the local market”
The Chairman of the Board of Directors, Chief Dr O R LongJohn assured SCD consortium, the preferred bidder, of the unalloyed commitment of NLNG Board of Directors and the four shareholders towards achieving Train 7 seamlessly “as we live our vision of helping to build a better Nigeria”.
The Federal Government represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources assured of support for the speedy implementation of the Train 7 project while the four shareholders – NNPC, Shell, Total and ENI – took turns to assure of shareholders’ commitment to ensure that FID for T7 is signed by 31st October this year.
Nigeria LNG Limited was incorporated as a limited liability company on May 17, 1989 to harness Nigeria’s vast natural gas resources and produce Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs) for export.
The establishment of NLNG is backed by the NLNG Act.
The company is owned by four shareholders, namely, the Federal Government of Nigeria, represented by Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (49%); Shell (25.6%); Total Gaz Electricite Holdings France (15%) and Eni (10.4%).
It has wholly–owned subsidiaries: Bonny Gas Transport (BGT) Limited and NLNG Ship Management Limited (NSML).
With six trains currently operational, NLNG’s plant, on Bonny Island in Rivers State, is capable of producing 22 Million Tonnes Per Annum (MTPA) of LNG, and 5 MTPA of NGLs (LPG and Condensate) from 3.5 Billion (standard) cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas intake. NLNG’s near term expansion plans include construction of a seventh train to complement the existing six train structure, which when in operation will up the company’s total production capacity to 30 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of LNG.
As the arrowhead of Nigeria’s efforts to eliminate gas flaring, NLNG’s operations have helped reduced Nigeria’s Flaring Profile from 65% to below 25%. The company also supplies about 40% of the annual domestic LPG (Cooking Gas) consumption.
In all its business and social activities, NLNG’s driving force remains its vision to help in building a better Nigeria.