Nigeria is taking its first steps to expand its liquefied natural gas capacity by a third, outlining a $12 billion program to help it keep up with the world’s biggest producers of the fuel.
Nigeria LNG, a venture involving the state-owned oil company, NNPC and three oil majors (Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Total SA and Eni SpA.), signed engineering and design contracts for a seventh facility on the nation’s Atlantic coast. Among the contractors participating are Saipem SpA, TechnipFMC Plc and Chiyoda Corp. A final investment decision could be taken late this year. Its latest plan would boost production to 30 million tons by 2024 from 22 million tons now.
Train 7 will cost as much as $6.5 billion to build, with another $5 billion to be spent on wells and pipelines needed to supply the plant. Nigeria LNG is seeking $7 billion from the global financial markets for sustainability of its operations and the expansion, according to a statement released late Wednesday. On Wednesday, the company signed front-end engineering and design contracts with two consortia of engineering companies.
Source: Bloomberg
