The Nigeria National Petroleum Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its joint Venture (JV) partners have signed the first basic 20-year term of Gas Supply Agreements (GSAs) for the NLNG Train 7.
They also signed the 10-year term of GSAs for Trains 1, 2 and 3.
The JV partners are Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), Total Exploration and Production Nigeria (TEPNG), Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited (NAOC) and Oando PLC.
The Group Managing Director of NNPC, Malam Mele Kyari, said that the agreement signaled the commitment of all to the gas project in the country.
He said that the GSAs bring NLNG closer to taking the Final Investment Decision (FID), which signaled the commencement of the project.
He said that with the agreement, the FID on train seven would be taken latest Dec. 20.
“The Train 7 project will ramp up NLNG’s production capacity from 22 Million Tonnes Per Annum (MTPA) to around 30 MTPA.
“The project will form part of the investment of over19 billion dollars, including the upstream scope of the NLNG value chain, thereby boosting the much needed FID profile of Nigeria.
“The project is anticipated to create over 10,000 new jobs during its construction phase and on completion help to further mop more gas that would have been flared and diversify the revenue portfolio of Nigeria,” he said.
The Managing Director of Shell, Mr. Osagie Okunbor, said that delivering gas to train 7 was an important part of the project.
He said Nigeria at this point should not be talking about train 7, but should be looking at train eight to train 12.
“But what we have done here today is very significant and we believe that more will be done in the future,” he said
Also, Patrick Olima of Total assured that the company would be committed to the supply of gas as signed in the agreement.
“We are committed in doing business in Nigeria just like we have done with Egina FPSO, we will do same with this project,” he said.
Mr. Wale Tinubu, Managing Director of Oando, reiterated that his company would be committed to the agreement.
“We are happy to be part of this process,” he said.
In his remarks, Mr. Tony Attah, the Managing Director of NLNG, said that signing of the agreement was a great moment for the NLNG.
He said that with FID on train 7, Nigeria was moving in the right direction.
“What we have done today is among the top three things needed before the FID is taken; without this, financiers will not come for train 7.
“We are happy with the commitment of the partners that have signed this agreement today; this agreement will further consolidate our relationship.
“We need to move fast as a country to maintain a strong position in the global space.
“Nigeria at this stage should not be talking only about train 7, but we should be talking about Train 12,” he said.
MM/GIK/APA