The Managing Director of Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG), Tony Attah,has said that Nigeria has the capacity of developing into a global powerhouse and increase its Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) market share.
Attah made this known during the presentation of Facts and Figures on NLNG 2017 publication, a compendium of the NLNG business at Sheraton Hotel,Ikeja.
The presentation was witnessed by the company’s Deputy Managing Director, Sadeeq Mai-Bornu; General Manager, External Relations, Kudo Eresia-Eke, and Finance General Manager, Solomon Folaranmi.
According to Attah, the right business environment is needed to exist for good transformation to take place in the gas industry in Nigeria.
“The Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) Fiscal Incentives Guarantees and Assurances Act (NLNG Act) allowed investments to flow into the country. It provided investors the confidence that any agreement entered into would
He also identified opportunities like the expansion of NLNG’s Bonny Island Plant with Trains 7 and 8, adding that this could be a catalyst to unleashing the country’s gas potentials.He said that it is high time for Nigeria to use gas to spur industrial and economic transformation.
Attah warned that some challenges may slow down progress towards achieving the country’s dreams, citing the proposed amendment of the Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) Fiscal Incentives, Guarantees and Assurances Act (NLNG Act) by the House of Representatives as a potential show-stopper.
“If the amendment is passed, the NLNG expansion project will be jeopardised and Nigeria will lose investments of US$ 1-3 billion annually in the Upstream to enable NLNG maintain current production capacity and gas developments. It means an immediate loss of foreign investment totalling US$25 billion in respect of Train 7 and 8 investments. Another impact will be the potential loss of about 18,000 jobs required for the construction of the Trains.
“An amendment or change in the NLNG Act portrays Nigeria as a promise-breaker and untrustworthy, damaging the country’s reputation and hamstringing its ability to attract foreign investment,” he pointed out.
Citing the Qatari example, Attah said: “Qatar started to ship LNG in 1997, two years before Nigeria. But you have to be awed by what the country has achieved since then. Today, oil and gas, and principally LNG is the foundation of Qatar’s economy; and account for more than 70% of total government revenue, and more than 60% of GDP, as well as roughly 85% of export earnings. Qatar has LNG capacity of about 77MTPA, and generates revenues of about $91 billion per year. Gas was the catalyst for transformation of a small emirate to a global economic powerhouse. This will give you a feeling of what can happen when you focus on gas.
“NLNG’s scorecard since inception of production, it has been a huge success that we need to sustain. It is the fourth largest LNG plant in the world. It has generated $90 billion in revenues as well as paid $5.5 billion in taxes. The company has generated $13 billion for the Federal Government through feedgas purchases and $15 billion in dividends. While monetising the country’s gas resources, the company contributed to reducing gas flaring from 65% to less than 20%.
“In addition, NLNG has contributed significantly to the domestic LPG industry, supplying some 40% of cooking gas to Nigerian homes and businesses. This intervention continues as part of strategies and initiatives aimed at deepening the availability and usage of cooking gas in the country.
“In the Niger Delta, NLNG committed more than $200 million to corporate social responsibility projects in the region especially in the areas of capacity building and infrastructure development. We are also ready to commit some N60 billion to see the Bonny-Bodo road come into reality and commit N3 billion annually for the next 25 years to transform Bonny into a Dubai of sorts. All these are achieved with a management staff entirely made up of Nigerians and a workforce which is 95% indigenous. But all of these achievements are in jeopardy with the proposed amendment by the House.”
NLNG is a groups shareholders, namely, the Federal Government of Nigeria, represented by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC (49%), Shell Gas BV, SGBV, (25.6%), Total LNG Nigeria Limited (15%), and Eni International (N.A.).
