Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) has reacted to the set-back delaying the final investment decision meeting involving shareholders of the company on the Train 7 gas project. The recent failure by Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Shell, Total and Eni to reach an agreement has added to the 10 years delay already recorded.
The Nigeria LNG Manager, Corporate Communication and Public Affairs, Sophia Horsfall, said the company was still committed to the gas project despite the setback, stating that activities to ensure the final investment decision was finalised was underway.
A series of delays: For the past 10 years, the final investment decision on Train 7 project has been delayed. The decision was also expected to be finalised in October, according to Nigeria LNG’s Chief Executive Officer, Tony Attah, but it was never concluded. Also, the Group Managing Director, NNPC, Mele Kyari, disclosed last month that the final decision would be taken this month, yet, the December meeting ended without an agreement.
But reacting to the setback and delay of the project, Horsfall said, “The NLNG remains fully committed to realising the Train 7 project which is expected to increase its production capacity by 35% as well as boost its competitive edge in the global LNG market.
“As part of activities leading to the Final Investment Decision, the NLNG recently signed Gas Supply Agreements with its gas suppliers. Other activities leading to achieving FID are in progress,” Horsfall said in a Punch report.
[READ MORE: NNPC, Shell, others delay final investment on NLNG Train 7)
Why this matters? The Train 7 project is expected to increase Nigeria LNG’s production capacity from 22 metric tonnes per annum to about 30 MTPA and would form part of the investment of over $10 billion including the upstream scope of the LNG value chain.
The Nigeria LNG is a company co-owned by the NNPC (representing the Federal government) which holds a 49% stake, while the other stakeholders, Shell has 25.6%, Total holds 15% and Eni accounts for 10.4%.
Why the delay on investment? According to a report by Punch, there are areas in the agreement that still needs deliberation and until they’ve been addressed, nothing can be signed in a hurry. Already, Saipem, Chiyoda Corporation and Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co. Limited have been named as the successful bidders to build the plant.
