President Tinubu pushes gas agenda, receives report on UTM FLNG, first floating LNG facility in Akwa Ibom
Oredola Adeola
As part of his administration’s commitment to drive the investment in Nigeria’s natural gas industry and positioning the country on path of growth in the post-subsidy era, President Bola Tinubu, met with the management of UTM FLNG Ltd, Nigeria’s first floating LNG facility stationed in offshore Akwa Ibom, to discuss the progress of the and its importance to Nigeria’s energy diversification and transition plan.
President Tinubu on Tuesday received in audience Mr Julius Rone, the Group Managing Director of UTM FLNG Ltd, his team Ms Emmanuelle Blatmann, Ms Hiromi Otuski, Ambassador of France to Nigeria, Mr Naoki Noguchi, Deputy Ambassador for Japan to Nigeria, Mr Sadeeq Mai Bornuand , MD JGC, at the State House, Abuja.
Rone, MD of Japan Gas Company and Senior VP of Technip during the visit presented the prototype of the FLNG facility to President Tinubu.
EnergyDay gathered that UTM FLNG Ltd, in collaboration with Japan Gas Company (JGC) and Technip Energies Limited, in 2022, began the commencement of the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) for the nation’s first Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) facility.
The construction of the FLNG facility is expected to have an LNG nameplate production capacity of 1.2 million metric ton per annum and a storage capacity of 200,000 cubic meters, as well as ancillary facilities to be located 60 km from the shore of Akwa Ibom State.
Further checks by EnergyDay showed that $5 billion MoU has been signed with the AFREXIM Bank for the financing of this project.
The facility is crucial to Nigeria’s energy diversification and transition plan and, when completed, is expected to have a significant impact on the country’s energy sector and reduce its reliance on fossil fuels.
EnergyDay is confident that with attractive operational environment being promoted by President Tinubu and the $5 billion financing from AFREXIM Bank, the project is well on its way to completion, and Nigeria is poised to enter a new era of energy production and sustainability.
