The management of the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) has told Nigerians and industry stakeholders’ that all is getting set for the Final Investment Decision (FID) on its capacity expansion project, the Train 7 project.
Speaking at the ongoing 9th Practical Nigerian Content in Yenagoa, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, NLNG, Mr. Tony Attah, said the group has already attained well over 97 percent readiness which suggests that the decision will coming in a matter of days or at most weeks.
Attah added that the Train 7 project was expected to expand NLNG’s production capacity by 35 percent from 22 Million Tonnes Per Annum (MTPA) to 30 MTPA, disclosing that “The peak construction, the Train 7 project is targeted to provide direct, indirect and induced employment of about 40, 000 jobs from the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), perspective if looked holistically over the next six-year window.”
NLNG however, warned that Nigeria risked losing its market share in the international gas market as well as dwindling gas export if it failed to make new investments in gas development. “In LNG exports and market share by market, Qatar leads the chart with 78.7 Metric Tonnes, 24.9 percent, followed by Australia with 68.6MT, 21.7 percent, while Nigeria sits at 5th position with 20.5MT and 6.5 percent.
Observers say there had been rising investments by sister African economies in LNG including Ghana, Zimbabwe, Kenya and recently Senegal and Gabon including Algeria and Equatorial Guinea.