Page 6 - GLNG Week 43 2022
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GLNG AFRICA GLNG
NLNG says it has not fully
idled production after
declaring force majeure
PROJECTS THE Nigeria LNG (NLNG) consortium said the impact on product deliveries,” it said in a
on October 21 that it had not completely halted statement posted on social media sites.
operations following last week’s decision to Additionally, NLNG said that the declaration
declare force majeure. of force majeure had not affected deliveries of
NLNG had issued a declaration of force LPG to Nigeria’s domestic market. (The consor-
majeure on October 17 in response to the wide- tium is a key supplier of LPG, or cooking gas, to
spread flooding that hit 33 of Nigeria’s 36 states, local consumers.)
explaining that heavy rainfall had already caused It added that it would “continue to monitor
production stoppages at many of the fields that the situation with upstream gas suppliers” and
provide its feedstock. This move led some of was “evaluating the impact of the flood on its
the group’s customers – including Portugal’s business.” It did not say when it expected to left
Galp, which imports much of its LNG from the declaration of force majeure.
Nigeria – to prepare for the possibility of supply NLNG has been in production for more than
disruptions. 20 years and is Nigeria’s sole exporter of LNG.
It also led some media outlets to speculate that Equity in the consortium is split between Nige-
the consortium had shut down all operations rian National Petroleum Co. Ltd (NNPCL),
at its gas liquefaction plant on Bonny Island. with 49%; Shell (UK), with 25.6%; TotalEnergies
NLNG said on October 21, though, that while it (France), with 15%; and Eni (Italy), with 10.4%.
had halted loading and export of LNG cargoes, State-owned NNPCL serves as operator of the
the LNG plant itself was still in operation. group.
“To correct some misinformation on the The consortium brought its first production
declaration, we would like to clarify: 1. The com- train on stream in 1999 and now has six pro-
pany’s plant is in operation, though at a limited duction trains capable of turning out a total of
capacity due to reduced gas supply from some 22.5mn tonnes per year. The complex’s installed
of its upstream gas suppliers. 2. None of NLNG’s capacity is set to rise to 30mn tpy as a result of the
assets on Bonny Island or in any of its host com- Train 7 project, which calls for building a seventh
munities are impacted by the flood. The force production train that can turn out 4.2mn tpy, as
majeure is as a consequence of a similar notice by well as the debottlenecking of existing trains,
upstream gas suppliers due to the impact of flood which will add another 3.4mn tpy of capacity.
in their production facilities. 3. NLNG is work-
ing with all critical stakeholders on mitigating
P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 43 27•October•2022
