NLNG rakes in $108bn from gas in 21 Years

Chinazor Megbolu

The Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) has raked in $108 billion from gas sales in 21 years.

The organisation made this known at the weekend, stating it delivered 5,000 cargoes to its customers around the world and made a whopping sum of $108 billion from gas sales in its 21 years of operations.

The General Manager, External Relations LNG, Mrs. Eyono Fatayi-Williams, in her remarks in Abuja, when she appeared alongside the Managing Director and CEO of NLNG, Mr. Tony Attah, before the House Committee on Gas Resources, said that between 1989 and 2019, the NLNG was incorporated and became a limited liability company with four shareholders.

She stated that the NNPC, which represents the Federal Government, has 49 per cent shares while Agip, Shell and Total have 51 per cent shares.

Fatayi-Williams also noted that from 1999, the first cargo sailed from Bonny Island in Rivers State to France which put the NLNG on the map as an operational company.

“We buy gas, we liquefy it; we transport it and sell it to the buyers and get value for Nigeria LNG and for Nigeria.

“In the 21 years we have operated, we have delivered 5,000 LNG cargoes around the world and we have 23 dedicated LNG ships to ensure our operation runs smoothly.

“On Bonny Island, we have six installed and operation LNG trains – the train is also known as LNG manufacturing line – of 22 million tonnes capacity.

“Our installed asset is $11 billion; today we have generated $108 billion in revenue since inception and have delivered $35 billion in dividends to the shareholders in the 21 years that we have operated and have paid $8 billion in taxes,” Fatayi-Williams said.

She, however, posited that in the early days of crude oil exploration, 65 per cent of gas was flared, but at the moment, less than 12 per cent of the gas produced with crude is flared.

Fatayi-Williams maintained that the country is rated 9th in the world with 200 Trillion Cubic Feet (TCF) of proven gas reserves at the moment.

“The 600 TCF of unproven gas reserves, if monetised, will make Nigeria the fourth globally in the ranking order of proven gas reserves in the world,” she said.

Fatayi-Williams further said that there is an opportunity for the nation to move up in the ranking of the use of cleaner energy.

Fatayi-Williams averred that over 470,000 persons lost their lives from firewood smoke in five years.

She buttressed that the World Bank data, showed that about a 100,000 Nigerians die yearly from firewood smoke inhalation and related complications with women and children as major casualties.

“If you compare this with the number of people who have died of Covid-19 complication which is less than 2,000 as reported by NCDC, very little is said about the 100,000 who die of firewood and smoke.

“The use of firewood is a double-edged sword; it is not only leading to a significant number of death, we also know that cutting timber for firewood leads to deforestation, which later leads to desertification,” Fatayi-Williams said.

Meanwhile, Attah, in his address said: “Today we have about seven billion, so it is like adding one new India and China to the world; where will the energy come from?

“So there is that dilemma, the world will need more energy, it needs it clean and cheaper and gas has offered itself not only as a transition fuel but also a destination fuel.

“We see gas as food because of its role in fertilizer production, we see gas as employment, we see gas as an industry, power and transport as most countries have trains and cars running on gas”.

Moreover, the Deputy Committee Chairman, Hon. Yusuf Miga, lauded the current management of NLNG for the signing of Final Investment Decision (FID) for the establishment of Train 7 project, saying the committee was ready to support initiatives that would boost investments in the production and processing of gas in order to consolidate Nigeria’s gas export opportunities and to enhance massive gas penetration and utilisation in the domestic market.