Page 12 - GLNG Week 49

GLNG AFRICA GLNG

NNPC head: NLNG shareholders

now discussing Train 8

PROJECTS & SHAREHOLDERS in the Nigeria LNG the volume of production that is important. For
COMPANIES (NLNG) consortium have begun discussions instance, Train 7 is adding almost close to what
on the construction of another production the current trains are doing,” he said, according
train at their natural gas liquefaction plant on to This Day.
Bonny Island. He was referring to the fact that the Train
Mele Kyari, the group managing director of 7 scheme envisions the construction of a new
Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC), production unit that will add 4.2mn tonnes per The Nigerian
made an announcement to this effect earlier this year (tpy) of new capacity to NLNG, as well as
week, during a briefing in Abuja. He told report- the debottlenecking of existing trains, which government
ers that NLNG had begun talks at the behest of will contribute another 3.4mn tpy. (The consor-
President Muhammadu Buhari. The president tium reached the FID stage on the project, which has said before
noted that the group had acted quickly to make will boost the Bonny Island plant’s production
a final investment decision (FID) on the Train 7 capacity from 22.5mn tpy to 30mn tpy, earlier that NLNG could
project and then urged it to take similar meas- this year.) eventually have
ures to speed up work on the next production Kyari did not reveal any details of the discus-
train. sions on Train 8, but he did say that NLNG and as many as
“As we have done FID on Train 7, we have its shareholders were committed to supporting
already started speaking to our partners to go the Nigerian government’s efforts to promote 12 trains in
to Train 8. And indeed, [Buhari’s] question was the use of gas and to expand LNG production.
that he was surprised that we are still on Train Abuja views LNG initiatives as sources of “more operation.
7,” Kyari was quoted as saying by This Day. “He jobs, more employment, more expansion of the
thought we should be talking about Train 8, and economy,” he remarked. “We agree with this and
I agree with him absolutely, because there was we are also chasing that appropriately.”
enormous room for us to improve.” NLNG was formed more than 20 years ago
The Nigerian government has said before and has been producing LNG since 1999. Equity
that NLNG could eventually have as many as 12 in the consortium is split between state-owned
trains in operation, but the NNPC chief did not NNPC, with 49%; Royal Dutch Shell (UK/Neth-
reveal whether that target was still in place. “[It’s erlands), with 25.6%; Total (France), with 15%,
not the number of trains that is significant. It’s and Eni (Italy), with 10.4%.™

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 49 11•December•2020