Page 9 - GLNG Week 19 2021

GLNG AFRICA GLNG

UTM Offshore contracts

JGC, KBR for FLNG project

PROJECTS & NIGERIA’S UTM Offshore will work with
COMPANIES Japan’s JGC and US-based KBR on plans for
installing a floating LNG (FLNG) unit at the
Yoho offshore oilfield.
According to local press reports, the Nigerian
marine services provider signed contracts with
both companies at an online ceremony on May
11. One of the contracts calls for JGC to con-
duct a pre-front-end engineering and design
(pre-FEED) study of the FLNG project, while
the other charges KBR with carrying out a third-
party review of the pre-FEED study.
Neither UTM nor the contractors had
divulged the terms of these deals as of press
time. The Nigerian company indicated, though,
that the tasks assigned to JGC and KBR would
help move the FLNG project closer to a final
investment decision (FID).
Julius Rone, the CEO and managing director
of UTM, stated at the signing ceremony that he
expected the FLNG project to create many new day of associated gas from the Yoho field. The
jobs for Nigerian workers. “UTM Offshore’s vessel will turn out 1.2mn tonnes per year (tpy)
FLNG project is the most logical continuation of LNG, equivalent to one or two standard-size
for our group, as Nigeria embarks on a new era LNG cargoes each month.
of gas monetisation and local content develop- The Nigerian company has not yet decided
ment,” Rone said. “Nigerian companies have whether to charter an existing FLNG units or
built the necessary capabilities to execute such order a newbuild unit for the project. Most of
ambitious projects, and we intend to open up a the existing vessels have already been assigned
whole new segment of the industry that brings to, or were purpose-built for other projects: the
positive environmental benefits to the country PFLNG-1 and-2 vessels, for example, were built
while continuing to build local capacities across for Malaysia’s Kanowit project and are slated to
the value chain.” remain there.
The only existing FLNG unit known to be
DPR support available is a smaller vessel – the 500,000 tpy
Nigeria’s Department of Petroleum Resources Tango LNG, which Argentina’s national oil com-
(DPR) has pledged to back the scheme, which pany (NOC) YPF chartered in 2019 for instal-
The Nigerian it expects to benefit the national economy. Sarki lation near Buenos Aires. YPF declared force
Auwalu, the director of the department, pointed majeure on its contract with Exmar, the Belgian
company has out during the online signing ceremony that the company that owns Tango LNG, in 2020, citing
not yet decided project would benefit local businesses. fallout from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pan-
“DPR will continue to provide opportuni-
demic. The vessel has been berthed in the Uru-
whether to ties and enable the businesses of promoters guayan port of Nueva Palmira ever since.
UTM will be installing the FLNG vessel for
and investors in the oil and gas industry for the
charter an economic growth, stability and sustainability of ExxonMobil (US) and state-owned Nigerian
National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC), the two
Nigeria and for the mutual benefit of all inves-
existing FLNG tors and industry participants,” he said. “Our shareholders in the Yoho oilfield. The latter two
units or order a licences, permits and approvals will continue companies began developing Yoho in 2003 and
to serve as stimulants for value addition and have been re-injecting associated gas back into
newbuild unit for enablers of development. Please be assured of the reservoir in order to maximise yields. Now,
the Department’s unflagging support to see you though, the site is mature and they are now
the project. through the successful execution of this land- looking to switch course. They see the FLNG
mark project in a safe, cost-effective and timely project as a means of commercialising the field’s
manner.” gas while oil extraction is winding down.
The department issued a licence-to-estab- In the meantime, Yoho is still yielding about
lish (LTE) for the project to UTM in March of 35,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil. ExxonMo-
this year. That licence envisions the installation bil and NNPC are using a floating production,
of an FLNG unit capable of processing up to storage and off-loading (FPSO) to develop the
176mn cubic feet (4.984mn cubic metres) per offshore site.™

Week 19 14•May•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P9