Yemisi Izuora
Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Alhaji Mele Kyari, has disclosed that the Corporation has begun discussions with partners for the construction of the Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG) Train 8, to boost gas monetization initiative of the government.
In December 2019, the company shareholders signed the Final Investment Decision for Train 7 to expand the complex to 30 metric tons per annum (mtpa) from the current 22 mtpa.
Kyari emphasized that the NNPC is making every effort to establish gas hubs that will lead to the creation of LNG projects, as the current focus of the Federal Government, the NNPC and partners is on gas monetization.
The LNG facilities will lead to more jobs and employment, as well as expand the domestic economy.
Kyari also noted that Nigeria is considering new oil field licensing rounds for 2021. Nigeria had previously delayed major oil field bid rounds this year due to COVID-19. Kyari said that the current price rebound should enable “some kind of licensing” next year, which could include ultra-deepwater fields.
Nigeria launched its first marginal oilfield licensing round in nearly two decades in July 2020.
These fields are likely to be developed by local companies and are less reliant on limited international funding. While some fields have been awarded, the Federal Government has yet to announce the full list of winners.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources H.E. Timipre Sylva said that Nigeria’s long-awaited Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) would include low tax provisions to sustain stable investments in the country’s oil sector.
The Minister delivered this remark at the seventh joint International Energy Forum and International Gas Union ministerial gas forum held online.
Minister Sylva also stated that a framework must be created for the Nigerian petroleum industry to grow and invest in additional petroleum products production – even under difficult economic conditions – and that the proposed PIB will be centered on core principles of clarity, dynamism, neutrality, open access and fiscal rules of general application.
He also added that key priority projects that Nigeria had planned to execute in 2020 have not been forgotten. The country has repeatedly failed to pass the PIB, a bill expected to help reform the oil sector when passed into law.
The PIB is considered relevant to the country’s quest to regain its competiveness as a global energy player.
A new version has been submitted again to the National Assembly for legislative consideration.