Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen. Please permit me to stand on the
existing protocol established.
On behalf of the management and staff of Nigeria LNG I thank Business
Day for partnering with us to organise their annual Energy Series this
year with the theme Nigeria @ 60: Harnessing Nigeria’s Energy
Potential for the Future. Indeed, it is very fitting that as Nigeria turns
60, we should evaluate our accomplishments in the oil and gas sector
with a view to arriving at what we need to do differently, especially in a
post Covid-19 world to better position Nigeria for the years ahead.
It is not a coincidence that Nigeria LNG is sponsoring this strategic event
in commemoration of Nigeria @60 as we focus on harnessing the
country’s energy potential for the future. This is riding on the back of
history that a little over 60 years ago, similar conversations gave rise to
the dream to setup Nigeria LNG to harness the nation’s abundant
natural gas resources and to reduce associated gas flares in the Niger
Delta and monetise the resource. For 30 years, the conversation
remained a dream until 31 years ago, precisely in May 1989, when
Nigeria LNG was incorporated, marking a significant milestone in the
nation’s energy sector.
The future envisaged at that time is our current reality today and Nigeria
LNG has actualised the objectives.
Since we started operations in 1999, NLNG has delivered over 5000
LNG cargoes to various destinations globally and generated about
USD110 billion in revenue.
Last year alone, we achieved plant reliability at a record 98.4% and a
production record of 316 LNG cargoes, 32 LPG and 24 Condensate
cargoes, essentially exporting at least a cargo everyday down the
Bonny River.
To-date, Nigeria LNG has converted about 6.8Tcf of Associated Gas to
Liquefied Natural Gas and Natural Gas Liquids, thus contributing to
reduction of gas flaring by upstream companies from over 60% before
we commenced operations to less than 20% currently. We also set up a
conservation area, the Finima Nature Park in Bonny Island, an area of
about 1,000 hectres that acts as a carbon sink in pursuit for a cleaner
environment underpinned by our strong focus on safety Goal Zero
which demands zero harm to people, zero harm to the environment and
zero harm to our facilities.
In 2007, in continuous demonstration of our commitment to the vision of
“helping to build a better Nigeria”, NLNG intervened in the domestic LPG
market and today we are committed to delivering 350,000 metric tons of
LPG annually to the domestic market to ensure the availability, reliability
and affordability of the commodity in the country. This intervention is
NLNG’s contribution towards the conservation of the environment and
the elimination of health challenges attributed to smoke inhalation from
cooking with hazardous fuels which adversely impacts the health of
mostly women and children. This way, we are contributing to a healthier
society.
As one of the most successful companies in Nigeria, NLNG is a major
revenue earner for the nation. Over 70% of NLNG’s profit goes to
Nigeria, via NNPC through dividends, and Company Income Tax. Other
taxes that NLNG pays include VAT and Education Tax. NNPC also
gets 55-60 per cent of the feed gas purchase revenue through its
participating interest in the upstream JVs.
Our Train 7 expansion project, when completed and operational, will
add about 35% capacity to our extant 22mtpa plant which should
continue to place Nigeria as a gas nation and NLNG as a major
supplier of LNG globally.
It is necessary to point out that there are still challenges in the sector
that need to be addressed to encourage the entry of more players into
the sector and to make the sector even more profitable for all
stakeholders. Expansion of the sector and a stronger focus on gas will
generate more income for the government and a cleaner environment.
Some of the challenges include under-investment in gas exploration,
appraisal and development activities; lack of a sustainable commercial
framework for gas supply and the need to provide more security for the
protection of oil and gas assets. These are some of the issues that we
expect that an event like this with experts from all segments of the
value chain shall tackle and provide creative and indigenous solutions
to.
While our successful operations continue to guarantee the values I have
already listed, we are also contributing significantly to human and
infrastructural development in our host community and the nation.
On Bonny Island in Rivers State where the plant is located, NLNG is
working towards making Bonny Island Nigeria’s first malaria-free city
through our Malaria Rollback programme and our sterling Community
Health Insurance programme which we are driving in partnership with
the state government, to ensure access to quality healthcare for resident
of the Island.
NLNG is also co-financing, with the Federal Government NGN120 billion
($315million) Bonny-Bodo Road project to connect Bonny Island to the
mainland.
More recently, as part of the Oil and Gas Industry Collaborative Initiative
spearheaded by NNPC to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, Nigeria LNG
sponsored the donation of medical equipment and consumables worth
over $4m to our host state, Rivers State, Lagos State, Bayelsa State,
Akwa Ibom and Adamawa States.
To end this remark, I believe this forum provides a rare opportunity for
unfettered discourse on how best to harness and manage Nigeria’s
energy potentials going forward. We need more collaborative forums like
this to ensure a more robust gas industry in Nigeria. With this year
having been rightly declared the “Year of Gas”, NLNG is leading the
conversation for expansion of the sector with the award of the Train 7
EPC Contract to Saipem Chiyoda and Daewoo (SCD) JV and the JV is
now in the driving seat for the execution phase to deliver Train 7.
I wish all of us wonderful deliberations as we listen to the experts to
extract as much value as possible from the sessions for the good of the
sector, Nigeria and Nigerians.
