Page 9 - AfrOil Week 35 2021

AfrOil PERFORMANCE AfrOil

It also declared that it was committed to operat- Equity in the consortium is divided between
ing transparently, in accordance with industry state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum
best practices and international standards. Corp. (NNPC), with 49%; Royal Dutch Shell
The consortium sent the note to the news- (UK/Netherlands), with 25.6%; TotalEnergies
paper following The Nation’s publication of an (France), with 15%, and Eni, with 10.4%. The
article alleging that NLNG had experienced dif- partners began production in 1999 and are now
ficulties with more than 20 LNG cargoes within operating six production trains with a capacity
the last six months. Citing unnamed sources, of 22.5mn tonnes per year (tpy) at their gas liq-
The Nation reported that the shipments had uefaction plant on Bonny Island.
been delayed or otherwise disrupted as a result NLNG is also planning to build at least one
of NLNG’s inability to secure enough feedstock more production train and broke ground for
from its foreign shareholders, especially from the Train 7 project in June 2021. The project will
Eni (Italy). push output up to 30mn tpy, partly through the
Eyono Fatayi-Williams, NLNG’s general construction of a seventh production train that
manager for external relations and sustainable can turn out 4.2mn tpy, and partly through the
development, wrote in the note to This Day that debottlenecking of existing trains, which will
the group was determined to preserve its stand- add another 3.4mn tpy of capacity. ™
ing as a dependable supplier of LNG.
“Following some recent reports in the media,
NLNG wishes to clarify that as a major player in
the global LNG industry, it is focused on fulfill-
ing its contractual commitments,” Fatayi-Wil-
liams commented.
She continued: “NLNG is fully committed to
sustaining its reputation of being a trusted and
reliable supplier of LNG globally and will not
take any action to endanger this commitment.”
As of press time, none of NLNG’s sharehold-
ers had commented on Nigerian media reports
about supply disruptions. Trains 1-2 at Nigeria LNG’s plant on Bonny Island (Photo: NLNG)

POLICY
OPEC+ members unlikely to heed US calls

for output hike at next meeting

EGYPT THE OPEC+ group is unlikely to make any policy was unlikely.
changes to its oil output policy when members However, Kuwaiti Oil Minister Moham-
meet this week, according to numerous del- mad Al-Fares caused confusion when he said
egates. If correct, this will give OPEC+ a total on August 29: “The markets are slowing. Since
combined production target of 37.14mn barrels [coronavirus] COVID-19 has begun its fourth
per day during September, up from the 36.74mn wave in some areas, we must be careful and
bpd August target. reconsider this increase. There may be a halt to
The increase in output follows the agreement the 400,000 (bpd) increas.”
reached in July to collectively ease production Later, though, he clarified that Kuwait would
cuts by 400,000 bpd each month from August support any decision based on “consensus”
and push back the current April 2022 end date among OPEC+ members. “As always, the State
until the end of the year. At this rate, it will take of Kuwait supports the consensus within the
nearly 15 months for OPEC+ to increase pro- OPEC+ group, as all options are explored, and
duction by the 5.8mn bpd withheld under the confirms that no decisions have been reached
agreement reached in early 2020 as the group yet with regards to the forthcoming meetings on
scrambled to balance the market. September 1,” he added.
In August, the US government urged OPEC When Fares was asked about US efforts to
and its allies to ramp up output to slow rising lobby for a production increase, he said: “There
gasoline prices, which have been viewed as pos- are meetings with OPEC countries, especially
ing a challenge to economic recovery. OPEC+ the Gulf Cooperation Council [GCC] countries,
delegates were quoted by several media outlets and so far there are different views on how to
including Reuters as saying that a change of handle this issue.” ™

Week 35 01•September•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P9