DPR deepens floating LNG production with new licence

Plant to produce 176million Mcfd of gas

FEW years after the Floating Liquefied Natural Gas ( FLNG) technology became feasible; the Department of Petroleum Resources ( DPR), Monday, granted Nigeria’s first licence for the production of 176 million cubic feet per day ( MMCFD) of gas.

FLNGS are water- based LNG, which uses modern technology in the development of offshore natural gas resources. With the initiative, natural gas would be produced, liquefied, stored and transferred. These activities take place on the sea before the gas is shipped directly to the market.

The Director/ Chief Executive Officer, DPR, Sarki Auwalu, while presenting the licence in Abuja, explained that the milestone was a reinforcement of the promise and commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari to Nigerians to promote indigenous participation in the oil and gas sector, and ensure that companies come to Nigeria and do business in an equitable way. Stressing the need to stimulate the nation’s economy and create jobs for Nigerians, Auwalu noted that the licence was a demonstration of the government’s resolve to harness safe and reliable technology for the development of the oil and gas industry. The Federal Government had last year, put Nigeria’s total gas reserves at 203.16 trillion cubic feet ( TCF), representing a marginal increase of 1.16tcf or 0.57 per cent from the 202tcf recorded in 2019.

The Minister of State for

Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, had also declared that aggressive effort would be made to unlock revenue and economic potential of gas even as the government had declared 2020 the Year of Gas. Auwalu also assured that DPR will continue to create opportunities and enable business for companies by providing the regulatory tools of licences, permits and approvals for investors.

The Managing Director of UTM Offshore Ltd., Julius Rone, while receiving the licence promised to abide by the terms of issuance within the 24- month validity period of the LTE from the date of issue.

With this development, Nigeria may become the second African country that would leverage the technology after a $ 2billion facility being championed by the government of Equatorial Guinea and Ophir Energy and Golar LNG.

PFLNG Satu located in Kanowit gas field offshore Sarawak in Malaysia, is reportedly the world’s first FLNG.

T HENigerian Stock Exchange ( NSE) extended losses to seven consecutive trading sessions, causing the All- Share Index ( ASI) to depreciate further by 0.13 per cent.

Yesterday, the ASI dropped by 54.15 absolute points, representing a drop of 0.13 per cent to close at 41,510.16 points, while the overall market capitalisation value lost N28 billion to close at N21.716 trillion.

The downturn was driven by price depreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks amongst which were; Northern Nigeria Flour Mills ( NNFM), NEM Insurance,

Niger Insurance, Japaul Gold and Ventures, and Multiverse Mining and Exploration.

Analysts at Afrinvest Limited said: “In the next trading session, we expect to see investors take position in bellwether stocks. However, trades might be influenced by the direction of yields in the fixed income m a r k e t . ” Market sentiment closed at par, recording an equal number of 23 gainers and 23 losers. Champion Breweries, Linkage Assurance, Morison Industries, and R. T Briscoe Nigeria recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent each, to close at N2.75, 66 kobo, 55 kobo and 22 kobo, respectively.

Wema Bank followed with a 7.69 per cent gain to close at 70 kobo, while Sovereign Trust Insurance went up by 7.14 per cent to close at 30 kobo.

On the other hand, NNFM led the losers’ chart by 9.94 per cent to close at N7.79, per share. NEM Insurance followed with a 9.20 per cent fall to close at N2.27, and Niger Insurance shed 9.09 per cent to close at 20 kobo, per share.

Japaul Gold and Ventures lost 8.86 per cent to close at 72 kobo, while Multiverse Mining and Exploration dipped 7.69 per cent to close at 24 kobo, per share.

Also, total volume of trade fell by 10.1 per cent to 305.928 million units valued at N3.952 billion, exchanged in 4,969 deals.

Transactions in the shares of FBN Holdings ( FBNH) topped the activity chart with 47.763 million shares valued at N351.057 million. Guinness Nigeria followed with 37.245 million shares worth N732.329 million, while RT Briscoe traded 26.831 million shares valued at N5.899 million.

Zenith Bank traded 25.075 million shares at N651.002 million, and Sterling Bank transacted 19.998 million shares worth N38.151 million.