Yemisi Izuora
The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has issued a License to Establish (LTE) for the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facility in Ajaokuta, Kogi State.
The LNG project is being developed via a joint venture between Transit Gas Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of Axxela Limited, and Nigerian Gas Marketing Company (NGMC), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). The Federal Ministry of Environment has also approved the project’s Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA).
DPR’s issuance of the LTE and the Federal Ministry of Environment’s ESIA) approval are significant project milestones demonstrating the critical regulatory support for the LNG facility development.
The project is on a fast track to completion as it recently received a Gas Purchase Order (GPO) for its feed gas from the Gas Aggregation Company of Nigeria (GACN).
NGMC and Transit Gas have adopted a world-class development approach in collaborating with a global team of experienced Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractors, technology providers, and other professionals to ensure project delivery in accordance with international best practices and safety standards.
The establishment of the LNG facility in the strategically located industrial hub of Ajaokuta, will assure the safe supply of natural gas in liquefied form via specialized cryogenic trucks across Nigeria.
The largest block of beneficiaries are commercial and industrial businesses in the Northern part of the country which have been considered stranded so far due to the absence of gas pipeline infrastructure.
The LNG is an environmentally-friendly fuel for power, process and feedstock needs that provides up to 40 percent in cost savings compared to alternative liquid fuels such as diesel. Continuous and reliable supply of gas is guaranteed by the installation of storage facilities at customer locations in addition to the buffer storage at the main LNG facility.
The project is expected be completed and market-ready by 2020, thus boosting productivity of existing industries, attracting new investments into the country, creating jobs for Nigeria’s growing populace and advancing the government’s push for socio-economic resurgence across the country.
The NGMC and Gaslink, another subsidiary of Axxela, account for over 80 per cent of the domestic gas distribution to industrial and commercial concerns, and have been doing so for the past 20 years.