The Final Investment Decision (FID) and commencement of construction of the 7th Train at the Bonny facility of the Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) took place in Abuja on Friday.
The project will allow the expansion to increase the capacity of the NLNG’s six-train plant from the extant 22 Million Tonnes Per Annum (MTPA) to 30 MTPA.
The contract was awarded for the engineering, procurement and construction activities to follow the closure of the bank and Export Credit Agency (ECA) financing, and the finalization of some key supporting commercial agreements expected in early 2020.
The actualisation of the Train 7 Project comes as NLNG celebrates 30 years of its incorporation and 20 years of operations since exporting its first LNG cargo in 1999.
The NLNG is an incorporated Joint-Venture owned by four Shareholders namely, the Federal Government of Nigeria, represented by Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (49%), Shell Gas B.V. (25.6%), Total Gaz Electricite Holdings France (15%), and Eni International N.A. N.V. S.àr.l (10.4%).
Mr. Tony Attah, The Managing Director of NLNG, said: “Train 7 is the crux of a growth agenda, which will ensure the company’s position as the 5th major supplier of global LNG is maintained, increasing value to its Shareholders and other stakeholders as well as further reducing the gas that would otherwise have been flared, in fulfilment of its vision of ‘being a global company, helping to build a better Nigeria.
“Over 12, 000 direct jobs will be created during the peak of construction, trade and commercial activities within the Niger Delta region equally receiving a boost as a result.
“The project will also support the development of local engineering and fabrication capacity in the country. Other opportunities for local content include procurement, logistics, equipment leasing, insurance, hotels, office supplies, aviation, haulage, and many more.”
The project upon completion in 2024 will support Nigeria’s move to diversify its revenue portfolio and generate more revenue from proven gas reserves of about 200 Trillion Cubic Feet (Tcf).
MM/GIK/APA