NNPC: Expect FID on NLNG Train-7 This Month
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has again assured other shareholders in the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Plc, that the planned final investment decision (FID) on the firm’s Train-7 project will still hold in December.
It said effort to grow the NLNG’s production capacity to 30 million metric tonnes per annnum (mtpa) through the Train-7 project would thus continue.
A statement from the corporation quoted its Group Managing Director, Mallam Mele Kyari, to have given the assurance to the Chairman and Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of French oil company, Total, Patrick Jean Pouyanné.
Total, like the NNPC, Shell and Eni are shareholders in the joint venture NLNG, with their shareholding percentages comprising 49 per cent for NNPC; 25.6 per cent for Shell; 15 per cent for Total; and 10.4 per cent for Eni.
The NLNG shareholders have reportedly embarked on an investment drive to grow the liquefied gas production capacity of the firm, and subsequently earn it more market shares.
Accordingly, the Train 7 project was expected to cost the shareholders nearly $12 billion, which includes the project’s net cost, estimated to be about $5 billion, and further investments in the company’s operational base and gas development.
The statement, which was signed by NNPC’s Acting Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs, Mr. Samson Makoji, also said Kyari indicated that the corporation would continue to align its business processes with its partners in line with global best practices.
He said this was important for the corporation to make the most of its investments for the benefit of Nigerians.
“We see Total Exploration and Production as a total partner. Total is one of the few multinational oil companies in Nigeria that are fully integrated with their visible footprints from the upstream to the downstream oil and gas sector,” Kyari, was quoted to have said.
He reportedly described Nigeria as the best investment destination in Africa with the largest growing economy and a population of over 200 million.
Kyari, assured Total of NNPC’s steady partnership and asked that they fulfill all their ongoing investment plans in the country.
On his part, Pouyanné, was also quoted to have said Nigeria was very important to the Total and that the Egina Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) oil field currently produces about 200,000 barrels per day (bd) of oil.
He equally said Total would continue to invest in deep-water projects in Nigeria and described the NLNG project as a very
important asset that his company was deeply committed to.
In another development, the NNPC also said its downstream retail subsidiary, NNPC Retail Limited, has begun the production and sales of highperformance engine oils for vehicles.
It said the variety of lubricants produced by the outfit would be used by petrol- and dieselpowered vehicles, adding that they were unveiled recently by Kyari. The NNPC recently reiterated its commitment to entrench downstream competitiveness using innovation and information technology. The Chief Operating Officer Downstream, NNPC, Mr Adeyemi Adetunji, had made this assertion while declaring open the 13th Oil Trading and Logistics Expo taking place in Lagos recently.
According to the COO, “Old approaches of driving Cost efficiency and Safety are pretty much exhausted, hence in line with the Corporation’s TAPE Agenda, NNPC is aggressively working on digitising its downstream operations.”