London Stands Still for Julius Rone as He Signs Mega Deal 

HighLife

Businessmen are prophets of enterprise. They are the illustrious popes of commerce, robed and mitred in the resonance of their exploits. More often than not, they rise through the fog and the fire of enterprise to tower in dominion astride chains of businesses and industry.

Consider the Nigerian magnate, Julius Rone, the head honcho of UTM FLNG, for instance; he starts as a champion of trade, constantly battling the odds to protect the franchise he creates. Thus, he has the same fundamental psychology as the artist or inventor. He sets himself to certain tasks and the work absorbs, becoming an expression of his depth and persona.

He understands that there is no better ballast for keeping the mind steady on its keel, and saving it from the risk of lethargy, than business. He lives to the growth and perfection of enterprise as reflected in his exploits.

Rone has done it again! He has signed a multibillion-dollar partnership with KBR, JGC Corporation, and Technip Energies to design Nigeria’s first floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility. The deal was signed on Wednesday, November 16, for the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) of UTM’s natural gas project.

The latest effort comes nearly a year after UTM inked a memorandum of understanding with Afreximbank to finance $2 billion in order to create an opportunity to support a future final investment decision on the FLNG project.

With the recent FEED contract, UTM will move the FLNG project from the fundraising stage to the implementation phase and will continue working with NNPC Limited and ExxonMobil to expedite the development, exploitation, and monetisation of stranded gas resources. The project’s completion will ensure energy security, access to energy, and clean cooking gas in Nigeria, the region, and beyond, as Europe seeks alternative gas suppliers as the bloc diversifies energy sources away from Russia due to the Ukraine conflict.

As Rone signed the deal with his beautiful wife, Yutee Rone, the Petroleum Minister, Chief Timipre Sylva, Ambassador Sharafa Isola, Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, and others watched from behind, grinning in apparent satisfaction.

With the first production from the $1.8 billion FLNG facility expected before 2027, UTM Offshore’s FLNG project will usher in a new age of LNG sector expansion in Nigeria and around the region as energy demand rises. Rone stated that Nigeria, with its vast gas reserves, is well positioned to increase its supply to Europe, and that UTM’s FLNG facility will be an enabler of industry expansion and Nigeria’s best practice in addressing critical gas industry challenges.

Interestingly, with the signed contract, the development of the FLNG facility in block OML 204 offshore Nigeria will kick off, enabling the exploitation of stranded gas resources sustainably while contributing to the Nigerian government’s agenda of reducing flaring and optimising environmental sustainability in energy developments, according to Sylva in a speech made during the signing ceremony of the contract.

“Following the signing of the Pre-Front End Engineering Design (Pre-FEED) contract to start the development of the 176 million cubic feet per day FLNG facility, the federal government expressed optimism about improved earnings from our gas monetisation scheme.; We are also elated that the UTM Offshore FLNG will be the first of such a project developed by an African company on the continent even as it will also significantly contribute to the Nigerian government’s agenda of reducing the flaring of associated gas across our industry.”

The high-octane event had who is who in the oil and gas sector in attendance. The likes of Steve Bran, Head of LNG Origination, Vitol; Mr. Farouk Ahmed, Authority Chief Executive, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA); Mr. Tadashi Ishizuka, President JGC Holdings; Mr. Gbenga Komolafe, Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC); Marco Vila, Chief Operating Officer, Technip Energies Ltd, and others.