Page 6 - GLNG Week 13

GLNG AFRICA GLNG
Governor of Rivers State rejects NLNG’s request for exemption from lockdown
PROJECTS & COMPANIES
THE government of Nigeria’s Rivers State has rejected a request from Nigeria LNG (NLNG) and several other companies involved in the pro- duction, processing and distribution of natural gas for an exemption from the lockdown regime imposed last week.
The lockdown drew objections from three Nigerian gas companies – NLNG, Nigerian Gas Co. (NGC) and Oilserv – and Total E&P, a sub- sidiary of France’s Total. These four firms joined with a local beverage maker, International Brew- eries, to send a special request to Nyesom Wike, the state’s governor, seeking a waiver.
In a joint letter, the companies explained that their operations necessarily involved travel into and out of the state. NLNG and the other gas operators noted that they were involved in distributing gas around the country, and Inter- national Breweries pointed out that its beverage deliveries were time-bound.
Wike responded to their request in the negative, saying that these companies’ busi- ness interests would have to take a back seat to public health considerations. “Government cannot grant their requests now because the protection of human life is more impor- tant than any other thing, and we shall do everything necessary to fulfil our obligation
in this direction,” he wrote.
Later, the governor qualified his response
somewhat, saying that his administration
would be willing to reconsider the manner at
some point in the future. “[We] shall review our
restrictions concerning [these five companies’]
activities when we are fully convinced that it will
be reasonable to do so,” he remarked. “Let me
reiterate that we have taken these painful deci-
sions because we cannot afford to lose any life from three in this state.”
Nyesom Wike ordered a complete closure of Rivers’ borders, as well as a complete shutdown of all local markets, on March 25. He took this step after the Nigerian Centre for Disease Con- trol (NCDC) identified the first case in the state, saying it was a necessary to curb the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
The coronavirus outbreak has hit Nigeria’s economy hard, as it has reduced demand for crude oil, the country’s main export and primary source of revenue. In turn, the decline in demand has been a blow for NLNG. In mid-March, Mele Kyari, the group managing director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC), said that at least 12 cargoes of LNG from the four-member consortium had been stranded and could not find buyers.™
The lockdown drew objections
Nigerian gas companies.
P6
w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 13 02•April•2020