Nigeria’s First FLNG Company Inaugurates Board of Directors, Projects Production to Start 2028

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

Nigeria’s First Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) has inaugurated its board of directors, including representatives of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) led by its Executive Vice President, Gas, Power and New Energy, Mr. Olalekan Ogunleye.

Also in attendance were the General Manager, Gas Development, NNPC, Dr. Salihu Jamari, while the Delta State Government was represented by the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Finance, Mr. Gibson Pinnick.

Other Board members included the Managing Director of UTM FLNG, Dr. Julius Rone; Chief Akin Ricketts, Ms. Doyin Adelabu and Sadeeq Mai-Bornu who acted as Protem Chairman of the meeting.

A statement from the company said the growth followed the consistent focus of the government of President Bola Tinubu to ensure gas-based prosperity was yielding positive results through the rapid progression of the UTM Floating LNG project.

The progress, it said,  was further enabled by the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari and support of the NNPC leadership, including ongoing coordination to positively close out the Exxon Mobil-Seplat divestment in conjunction with the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).

The Board of Directors of UTM FLNG Ltd, developers of the first floating liquefied natural gas facility in Nigeria, said  it had its maiden meeting on July 23, 2024, at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.

“The meeting thoroughly evaluated and approved the progress of the company, particularly the Engineering, Procurement, Construction, Installation and Commissioning (EPCIC) phase and noted that the company is on track to achieve Final Investment Decision (FID) by Q4, 2024.

“The board which has full representation from the founder shareholders, NNPC Ltd, Delta State Government and the UTM Offshore Ltd, expressed delight at the strict adherence to international standards, best practices and quality assurance at all levels of the project.

“It directed the company to expedite action on the management and organisational structure to ensure smooth take-off of the construction phase of the project,” the statement added.

Speaking at the end of the meeting, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of UTM FLNG, Rone assured that the company had laid all processes to ensure a smooth take-off and targeted production capacity of 2.8 million metric tonnes per annum by Q4, 2028.

He added that the company was concluding all the necessary approvals from appropriate agencies and regulators.

“The board met today and evaluated all the processes and progress the company has made in the effort to develop the first indigenous floating LNG in Nigeria and in fact in Africa.

“Board members were delighted by the progress made so far particularly on the EPCIC phase. It directed that the management should ensure the FID is taken by the fourth quarter of the year.

“So, our company is set for FID before the end of this year and on completion in Q4, 2028. It will have a production capacity of 2.8 million metric tonnes of natural gas, 450 metric tonnes of LPG and other liquids per annum for export and domestic consumption.

“This is a huge step which we believe will leapfrog the economy by ensuring availability of gas at lower cost for household, automobile and industrial uses. It will also generate massive employment and multi-million Naira business opportunities for Nigerians”, he said.

 Rone stressed that gas resource was a key driver of economic growth and development for Nigeria with her nearly 209 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of natural gas reserves which ranks as the 9th highest in the world.

The UTM boss also commended President Bola Tinubu for encouraging private investments and creating the enabling environment for companies like UTM FLNG to thrive in the overall interest of the country.