NLNG Train 7: Era of building modules abroad, shipping, coupling here over—NCDMB
The Executive Secretary of Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Engr Simbi Wabote has disclosed that indigenous ingenuity of Nigerian oil and gas engineers has come of age to the extent that “The engineering, procurement and construction of the planned $4.3bn Nigeria LNG Limited Train 7 plant will be done in-country by mostly indigenous companies”.
Speaking at a public workshop on the Nigerian content aspect of the NLNG Train 7 in Abuja recently, Wabote revealed that “the fabrication of pressure vessels, pipes, flare stack and other opportunities related to the Train 7 project will be domiciled in Nigeria”.
While stressing that “the era of building such projects in modules abroad to be shipped and coupled in the country was over,” he posited that “I know how we insist on some of these local content requirements from the international oil companies”.
“If you leave them alone, they will build this Train 7 in modules and then ship them from England or the Netherlands, and then take them straight to Bonny and couple them.
“That is not going to happen. We are going to build the Train 7 in-country, because we have the capacity.”
Business Hilights recalls that the NLNG is a private limited liability company owned by the Federal Government, represented by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, with 49 per cent stake; Shell, 25.6 per cent; Total, 15 per cent; and Eni, 10.4 per cent.
Only recently, Managing Director of NLNG, Tony Attah, announced that it was shopping for $7bn to expand its operations, explaining that the expansion project will see to the construction of an extra gas processing train called Train 7 and investment in upstream gas that will ensure sustainable feed gas supply to its existing Trains 1 to 6.
Already, indications are clear that target Final Investment Decision date is expected within the current last quarter of this year.
According to Attah, NLNG’s panned Train 7 project, which would increase production output of its plant by 35 per cent from 22 million metric tonnes per annum to 30 MTPA, would lift Foreign Direct Investment in the country when it comes on stream.
