… as 30m metric tons is no longer trending
Olusola Bello
Investors in the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited may suddenly have realized that the yet to be attained 30 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas is no longer fashionable and therefore are bracing up to move to 10 trains and beyond in a decade from now.
The company had recently signed the final investment decision for train 7 which is expected to increase the volume of the company from 22 million metric tons to 30 million metric tons per annum.
Going to train10 and beyond may enable her to be at par with some countries like Qatar and other gas nations.
It was in attempt to realise this goal that the recently concluded NIPS Pre Summit conference which was organized by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and sponsored by the NLNG was held to fashion out strategies with other stakeholders in the industry.
The country through the operations of the NLNG currently plays a significant role in the global energy sector, holding the position of the largest oil and gas producer in Africa and the sixth supplier of global LNG.
Not too long ago, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its partners took the final investment decision on train 7. The project alone will attract about $10billion into the country with significant revenue generation for government and its shareholders but also over 12000 jobs opportunity for Nigerians
The train 7 project has been delayed for several years. A previous deadline for a final investment decision in the fourth quarter of 2018 was not met.
The country is rich in oil and gas but has been struggling to boost its output of both resources.
Its declining LNG production in 2019 pushed it down to the world’s sixth largest producer, with the United States taking its place.
Tony Attah, managing director of Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited had declared at the summit that “this is a decade of gas, another decade of sustained operations in Nigeria LNG, a decade of Train 7 and perhaps Trains 8,9 and 10; a decade of elimination of gas flaring, a decade of more Domestic LPG in households in Nigeria and overall, a decade of fully Gas-Powered Economy”
The desire to go beyond train 7, stems from the fact that the stakeholders have come to realise that the additional 30 million metric tons the NLNG train would bring, is no longer fashionable when it was discovered that, a country like Qatar is producing that same volume to top her production capacity to over 70 million metric tons per annum.
Nigeria went to sleep after the completion of train six which made her to be one of the leading global production of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and like countries like Qatar and Austrialia push her aside and now take dominant positions in the global suppliers of LNG. It was not long ago the final investment decision train Seven was taken
Tony Attah has said the large deposit of gas resources in Nigeria would amount to nothing if the gas is not developed and utilised urgently to meet the nation’s energy needs.
He stated that it was necessary to act now on gas through deliberate policies such as the Decade of Gas. He added that the country must not continue to be gas-rich and energy-poor where our gas processing and LNG capacity do not match the volume of our gas reserves.
NLNG boss however, emphasised that the time for Nigeria to become a top gas nation is now when gas is playing a pivotal role in bridging traditional energy sources and renewables.
“Energy transition has begun, resulting in massive change in the global energy mix while renewable sources are gaining prominence to replace coal and other forms of fossil fuels.
Gas is set to be the fastest growing transition fuel of the future. This is a great opportunity for Nigeria. Nigeria is blessed with plenty gas reserves – 200TCF of proved reserve and an additional 600TCF scope to be proven by SEC rules.
Nigeria currently plays a significant role in the global energy sector, holding the position of the largest oil and gas producer in Africa and the sixth supplier of global LNG through the operations of Nigeria LNG Limited. Our Train 7 project alone will attract about $10billion into the country with significant revenue generation for government and our shareholders but also over 12000 jobs opportunity for Nigerians
