Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) says it is 97 per cent ready to take Final Investment Decision (FID) on its capacity expansion project, the Train 7 project.
Mr. Tony Attah,, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Nigeria LNG Limited0, disclosed this at the ongoing 9th Practical Nigerian Content in Yenagoa.
He said that the Train 7 project is expected to expand NLNG’s production capacity by 35 per cent from 22 Million Tonnes Per Annum (MTPA) to 30 MTPA.
“The Train 7 project is targeted to provide direct, indirect and induced employment of about 40, 000 jobs from the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), perspective, if looked holistically over the next six year window,” he said.
He warned that Nigeria risked losing its market share in the international gas market as well as dwindling gas export if it failed to make new investments in gas development.
“In LNG exports and market share by market, Qatar leads the chart with 78.7 Metric Tonnes, MT, 24.9 per cent, followed by Australia with 68.6MT, 21.7 per cent, while, Nigeria sits at 5th, with 20.5MT and 6.5 per cent.
“If we do not take new FID investments in trains, Nigeria may continue to drop from 5th to 10th position by 2025.
“We are here to enable gas. Nigeria has ridden on the back of oil for more than 50 years, it is now time to fly on the wings of gas.
“Our vision is to be a global LNG company helping to build a better Nigeria. We have four shareholders, government with 49 per cent of the company with NNPC as it representative, Shell 25.6, Total 15 per cent and Eni 10.4 per cent.
“This year, we celebrate our 30th anniversary, and 20 years of safe and reliable operation in the Niger Delta.
“We believe that gas will continue to be a strong part of the energy mix in Nigeria.
“Today we have 11 billion dollars asset base. We have six LNG trains with 22mtpa capacity. We have 23 ships going round the world,” he added.
He said that the company has delivered over 4700 LNG cargoes across the world and reduced gas flaring by 65 per cent lay down to less than 20 per cent.
“Nigeria is now number seven in terms of gas flaring across the world. Russia remains number one, even the U.S. is at number four on the list.
“We are the highest tax payers in Nigeria with eight billion dollars tax. The company is 100 per cent Nigerian management and 95 per cent Nigerian staff.
“The next big deal for capacity building for Nigeria through NCDMB is the NLNG Train 7,” he said.