Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, says his administration will support an indigenous firm, UTM Floating Liquefied Natural Gas Limited, and its foreign partners for the timely completion of the Africa gas project.
Tinubu said this on Wednesday, July 5, 2023, in Abuja during an audience with the management of the company and its foreign partners, where he pledged to remove all impediments to the timely completion of the facility.
He commended UTM FLNG Limited as well as its technical partners, Technip Energies of France, and its Japanese counterpart, JGC, for the initiative and partnership.
According to him “Yes, we have an abundance of gas on the ground. However, the extractive industry needs the injection of your kind of partnership to be able to promote growth.
“It is a must for any government to support. Let me know if there are any bottlenecks, we will break them,” he said.
The President applauded the conglomerate for the massive investment which, he said, would promote growth and protection of the environment.
Briefing the President earlier, the Managing Director of UTM Offshore Limited, Mr. Julius Rone, said the project aligns with Tinubu’s promise to develop Nigerian gas resources as a source of sustainable energy and economic development for the country.
He said when the facility gets upstream by the Fourth Quarter of 2026, it would process 1.5 million metric tonnes of Liquefied Natural Gas for the foreign market and produce 300,000 metric tonnes of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) for domestic use.
Rone said the company would cater to 25 percent of domestic demand for LPG.
He, therefore, solicited the President’s support to eliminate any encumbrances that may endanger the delivery of the project by the targeted date.
In her remarks, the French Ambassador to Nigeria, Ms. Emmanuelle Blatmann, described the project as a milestone, cementing the French presence in Nigeria’s economic space.
The facility, she said, would advance the economic diversification agenda of the Federal Government by tapping into the country’s abundant gas deposit.
When delivered, she said, the gas from Nigeria would be viable as an alternative source of gas for Europe.
Also in the delegation were the Japanese Deputy Ambassador to Nigeria, Ms. Hiromi Otuski, Managing Director of JGC, Mr. Naoki Noguchi, and Project Advisor, Mr Sadeeq Mai Bornu.
By Dare Akogun
