Senate gas committee promises to sustain NLNG legacy
Chairman, Senate Committee on Gas, Bassey Albert Akpan, has promised that his committee will do all in its power to sustain the Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) legacy and encourage the entrenchment of the NLNG business model in other parts of the Nigerian economy.
In a statement by Kudo Eresia-Eke, the company’s general manager, external relations, Akpan made the call when he led members of the committee on an oversight visit to the NLNG facility in Bonny recently.
“The Senate resisted calls for the sale of government equity in NLNG because we believe that NLNG is the most successful oil and gas venture in the country,” the Senate committee chairman on gas, said.
The senator said a business like NLNG, which has succeeded over decades, should be encouraged, and assured that the company had the senators buy-in on the proposed Train 7 expansion programme, which will potentially add an estimated 18,000 new jobs, while reinforcing the company’s position as a major player in the global energy market.
He noted that to achieve this “we must be able to sustain our output to be able to sustain our profitability.”
Earlier, Tony Attah, managing director/CEO, NLNG, told the visiting senators that NLNG’s incorporated joint venture (IJV) model granted it the capacity and autonomy to successfully approach the international capital market to source funds.
This model he added, contrasts with the less flexible upstream unincorporated JVs, which are directly funded by the shareholders. NLNG’s business model he said was made possible by the NLNG Act, which is currently being threatened by a proposed amendment by the National Assembly.
The NLNG MD added that the proposed amendment would have adverse implications for NLNG’s ability to continue its business profitably, to attract future investments, and to help build a better Nigeria.
Attah said “NLNG needs all the necessary support to be able to go to the market to raise 15 billion dollars for Train 7 investment which is capable of generating 18,000 jobs. This will enable Nigeria resolve most of the youth restiveness in the country; help the company to remain a global player in the natural gas market, and to help build a better Nigeria. We believe we can achieve all these with your help.”
He also pointed out that Nigeria LNG has helped to reduce gas flaring from 65 percent at the commencement of its operations to about 20 percent today, removing the country from the top of the list of erring nations, with a real chance of further improvement, if given the enabling operating environment including the actualisation of Train 7.
On LPG supply to the domestic market, the NLNG MD said the structure is threatened, as the system encourages tax-free importation of LPG while NLNG supply is subjected to Value Added Tax (VAT), thereby frustrating the company’s effort to support and grow the local LPG market for which it already sets aside 250,000 metric tonnes annually.