“The Brass LNG and OKLNG have been fantastic in terms of their comfort zone. You can give them a 100 per cent in terms of their performance.”
Uche Usim, Abuja and Adewale Sanyaolu
In a fresh move to revive Brass Liquefied Natural Gas and Olokola LNG, the Federal Government said it was working towards making the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Company (NLNG) acquire stakes in both firms.
This was as the NLNG disclosed that as part of its 30-year initiative, it was targeting to invest about N3 billion annually in Bonny Kingdom to drive development in the community and transform it into a notable tourist and relaxation destination.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr. Ibe Kachikwu, who made the disclosure during a visit to the NLNG plant complex in Bonny Island at the weekend, allayed concerns that the forthcoming elections would scuttle the Train 7 project of the NLNG.
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He explained that the Federal Government would provide the needed support to ensure the company, which had always remained protected from political interference, achieves its goal.
He advised the NLNG to mobilise resources and investors for the successful take-off of the Brass LNG and OKLNG projects, noting that revival of the two LNG projects would help create about 5,000 jobs in peak periods and almost 3,000 jobs in normal periods.
He said, “the Brass LNG and OKLNG have been fantastic in terms of their comfort zone. You can give them a 100 per cent in terms of their performance. But I am saying that the world is bigger than these islands. We have opportunities that are stranded everywhere – Brass LNG, in terms of shareholding, financing; OKLNG, in terms of getting off the ground.
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“I would like to see NLNG get out of its comfort zone over the next 30 years. Different from Train 8 and nimble investments in smaller fields, how about Brass LNG and OKLNG?
Meanwhile, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) yesterday, announced plans to invest in bonds and other long term maturing instruments to support funding requirements for its various Joint Venture(JV) partners which currently estimated at $7 billion annually. This was even as it said it has signed third party financing deals with foreign banks to the tune of $3 billion for the development of new oil and gas deals.
Group Managing Director, NNPC, Mr. Maikanti Baru, made the disclosure at the Nigeria Annual International Conference and Exhibition (NAICE) of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Nigeria Council with the theme ‘‘Diversification of the Nigerian Economy – The Oil and Gas Industry as an Enabler” which opened in Lagos, yesterday.
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In his presentation entitled: “Revamping the Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry through Alternative Funding: Opportunities, Challenges, Innovations & Solutions”, Baru said alternative financing has deepened on local banks’ participation in the upstream sub-sector of the industry.
According to him, some of the financial instruments being considered for investments include treasury bills, bonds, commercial paper, stocks, and forex trading.
“For the IOCs partners, we would continue to leverage the strong credit rating by identifying key quickening projects that are easy to mature with strong cash flow projections and attracts necessary funding for the debt market.
These attractive financing approaches to fund NNPC JVs obligation have helped to renew investor’s confidence and cement further foreign direct investment.