President Bola Tinubu has endorsed the country’s $5 billion Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project.
On Wednesday, the President received a group of joint venture partners from UTM FLNG, TECHNIP Energies, and JGC Corporation in his office, along with Ambassadors from France and Japan.
Mr Julius Rone, the delegation’s leader and Group Managing Director of UTM FLNG, told State House correspondents after the meeting with the President that a $5 billion loan with Afreximbank had been signed for the implementation of the floating LNG project.
Mr Rone, who represented the President, stated that the project has the potential to create 7,000 direct jobs and produce 300,000 tonnes of LPG per year.
He also stated that this is the first time in Nigeria that an indigenous company will be involved in a project that will contribute to Nigeria’s decarbonization efforts.
According to him, the first floating LNG project in Nigeria will be operational by the first quarter of 2026.
During President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure, the project was scheduled to be completed in 2025.
According to the former president, the project is in line with the Federal Government’s vision of transforming Nigeria into a gas-based economy by 2030.
This, he said, was part of the declaration of 2021- 2030 as the gas decade, which was becoming a solid reality with the start of preliminary engineering on the LNG project.
The FLNG facility was hailed as a step forward in the country’s efforts to develop, exploit, and monetize its over 209 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of proven gas resources, with a potential upside of 600 tcf of gas to ensure energy security, economic growth, and emissions reduction.
When completed, the FLNG facility will have an LNG nameplate production capacity of 1.2 million metric tonnes per year, a storage capacity of 200,000 cubic metres, and ancillary facilities located 60 kilometres off the coast of Akwa Ibom State.
It was also noted that it will add value to the oil and gas sector’s contributions to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The FLNG market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27.14 percent, reaching $88.99 billion by 2024, according to market research analysts.
