Page 15 - AfrOil Week 50 2020

AfrOil POLICY AfrOil

NLNG head says Nigeria should

capitalise more on gas wealth

Attah calls for further expansion, arguing: “We have to set our sights on Trains 8, 9 and 10”

NIGERIA NIGERIA needs to make more use of its abun- power plants under development in the states of
dant gas resources in order to bring down Abuja, Kaduna and Kano.
energy costs, lower its emissions and spur eco- The country’s central bank recently unveiled
nomic growth, Nigeria LNG (NLNG) CEO a $648mn incentive package to encourage the
Tony Attah has said. development of natural gas vehicle infrastruc-
Nigeria is Africa’s biggest oil producer, but ture. The move came after the government
it also holds some 5.4 trillion cubic metres of ended subsidies for gasoline and diesel, making
proven natural and associated gas reserves, and them more expensive.
a further 17.2 trillion cubic metres in possible Nigeria’s ambition is to have as many as 1mn
reserves. The country should therefore be seen vehicles converted to gas on the roads by the end
as “a gas nation that has some oil,” Attah said at of 2021. This will reduce fuel bills for motorists
the Nigeria Oil & Gas Strategic Outlook Digital and improve the country’s trade balance, as it is
Session on December 8. currently heavily reliant on imported fuels, lack-
“It’s about time Nigeria really takes advantage ing much functional oil refining capacity.
of this resource,” he said, noting the key role gas Gas can also be used more in household
had to play in delivering on climate goals. cooking, Attah said, replacing dirtier fuels and
NLNG has been producing LNG in Nigeria reducing deaths from smoke inhalation. “Gas is
since 1999. Equity in the consortium is split more than energy – gas is power and gas is about
between state-owned NNPC with 49%, Royal survival, gas is life, gas is cleaner, gas is affordable
Dutch Shell with 25.6%, France’s Total with 15% and gas is available,” the CEO said.
and Italy’s Eni with 10.4%. Its plant on Bonny Attah also noted that he saw hydrogen more
Island can produce up to 22.5mn tonnes per as a threat than an opportunity for Nigeria’s
year (tpy) of LNG. The consortium last year took gas industry. Hydrogen has been pitched as a
a final investment decision (FID) on adding a means of decarbonising areas of industry that
seventh train and de-bottlenecking the project, would otherwise be difficult to abate. It can
which bring output up to 30mn tpy in 2024. be produced from gas using techniques such
Both the consortium and the Nigerian gov- as methane reforming, and carbon emissions
ernment have lamented about the country’s slow from the process can be captured and stored.
pace in expanding its LNG exports. The coun- This is known as blue hydrogen. But an increas-
try was the world’s fourth biggest LNG exporter ing number of countries instead favour green
until last year, when it moved down to fifth posi- hydrogen, produced from water via renewable
tion after being replaced by the US. energy-powered electrolysis.
“We have to set our sights on Trains 8, 9 and “There is a threat on its way. A lot of people
10,” the NLNG chief said. He said that Nigeria are talking about hydrogen today, but it is a
ought to be emulating Qatar and its aggressive major competitor for gas in Nigeria,” Attah said
LNG expansion programme. Qatar plans to Given the threat that hydrogen poses, Nigeria
raise its liquefaction capacity by 33mn tpy to needs to make greater efforts to commercialise
110mn tpy by 2025 and then expand it to 126mn its gas resources before it is too late, he said. ™
tpy by the late 2020s.

On the home front
Attah also stressed the importance of Nigeria
expanding its use of gas at home, noting NLNG’s
willingness to provide LNG to the domestic
market. The company has suggested that its
LNG can be used to replace dirtier diesel in road
transport and small-scale power generation.
The CEO also lauded the launch of construc-
tion on the 614-km Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano
(AKK) pipeline over the summer. The pipeline
will carry up to 56mn cubic metres per day of
gas, some of which will be used at a series of new NLNG’s six existing trains can produce 22.5 tpy of LNG (Photo: NLNG)

Week 50 16•December•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P15