The Nation Newspaper

Tag: NLNG

  • NLNG generates $60b revenue, says CEO

    •Accounts for 7% of global LNG market

    The Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited(NLNG) generated $60 billion in revenues for the Federal Government in the last 13 years, the Managing Director/CEO, Babs Omotowa, has said.

    The CEO, who stated this in Lagos at the Annual Oloibiri Lecture Series and Energy Forum organised by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Nigeria, also said NLNG accounts for seven per cent of the global liquefied natural gas (LNG) market.

    In a paper, entitled: Emerging Unconventional Hydrocarbon Sources: Implication for Nigerian LNG export, Omotowa highlighted the value additions of the company to Nigeria and its stakeholders. He, however, expressed fears that natural gas production from unconventional sources will certainly impact negatively on the company.

    He said apart from the revenues generated for the government, NLNG has placed Nigeria on the global map as LNG exporter, and also accounts for four percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

    He said NLNG is responsible for 50 per cent reduction of flared gas and contributes 65 per cent of the total liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) supply to the market, adding that the company has revitalised the shipping industry. He added that it supplies uninterrupted power in its catchment area, Bonny, Rivers State. It also supplies pipe-borne water across its operational ares.

    He said the company has paid over $15 billion to companies on feed gas purchase in upstream joint ventures, and paid paid over $23 billion dividends to its shareholders, while $180 million was paid as Value Added Tax (VAT), among others payments.

    He said: “As at today, NLNG is producing seven per cent of global liquefied natural gas and currently contributes four per cent of Nigeria’s GDP. The company had supplied about 150,000 metric tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas, (cooking gas) into the domestic market, representing about 65 per cent of LPG that has been distributed to the local market.

    “Out of the 23 million tonnes of LNG produced annually, 63 per cent goes to Europe, while 32 per cent goes to Asia,” he stated.

    He said that reports by United States Energy Information Administration (EIA), showed that there are several trillions of cubic meters of technically recoverable gas from shale gas resources spread across the countries of the world, such as the United States, Russia, China, Australia, South Africa, Argentina, Qatar, Canada and South Africa.

    He disclosed that the production of natural gas from shale formations may lead to United States emerging as a net exporter of gas by 2030 as against a net importer of oil and gas.

    He said US market demand is no longer sacrosant as long term (25years) sales and purchase agreements are being challenged due to liquidity and indexation of LNG prices to crude.

  • ‘NNPC owes Fed Govt N142b’

    ‘NNPC owes Fed Govt N142b’

    • Controversy trails NLNG’s N195b dividend

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) owes the Federal Government N142.7 billion, but the Corporation has not shown any intention to pay the money, House of Representatives Committee on Finance has said.

    The corporation is supposed to remit the said amount from the N6 trillion Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) it realised between 2009 and July, last year to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) as demanded by the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007, the Committee said.

    Consequently, the Committee has summoned the Group Managing Director, Andrew Yakubu to appear before it next Monday and Tuesday in connection with their finances and remittances to the government.

    It has also summoned the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG) over the N195 billion dividends accruing to the Federal Government, which it claimed to be in possession of the Federal Ministry of Finance.

    Giving details of how the country has been shortchanged by the NNPC and its 16 subsidiaries, Chairman of the Committee, Abdulmumin Jibrin, said the corporation was initially hostile to a technical committee set up by the House to examine its records.

    He said: “Our biggest challenge has been the NNPC, but as a committee, we have resolved that whatever we have to do within the confines of the law, NNPC must be made to pay the money.

    “We have said it before that NNPC has never remitted anything under its IGR to the CRF. In 2009, the Corporation generated N2.048 trillion, and made N2.155 trillion in 2010.

    “While N1.9trillion was realised in 2011, by July of 2012, the Corporation made N259billion as its IGR. But between 2009 and 2012, the Corporation remitted nothing out of the N6 trillion it generated to the CRF as demanded by law.”

    Jibrin explained that to ascertain what was due to the Federal Government was not lost to either fraud or inefficiency, the Committee set up a technical group to examine the books of the corporation and its 16 subsidiaries.

  • NNPC withdrew N1.4tr subsidy from crude sales – Report

    NNPC withdrew N1.4tr subsidy from crude sales – Report

    Contrary to the practice where subsidy payments are claimed from the Petroleum Support Fund (PSF) through the Petroleum Product Prices Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) by all qualified companies, the Nigerian National Petroleum Regulatory Corporation (NNPC) allegedly withdrew subsidy payment of N1.40 trillion from domestic crude oil sales proceeds before remittance to the Federation Account from 2009 to 2011.

    This fact was revealed by the Independent Oil and Gas Industry Audit Report, covering 2009 to 2011, put together by the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).

    The reported noted that subsidy payments claimed by NNPC increased by 110 per cent, as the payments rose from N198 billion in 2009 to N416 billion in 2010.

    NEITI chairman, Mr. Ledum Mitee, who presented the report in Abuja on Thursday, said in 2011 alone, the subsidy payments rose to N786 billion and the increase between 2009 and 2011 was 186 per cent.

    His words: “The financial report clearly underlines that contrary to the practice where subsidy payments are claimed from the Petroleum Support Fund (PSF) through PPPRA by all qualified oil marketing companies, that the NNPC draws subsidy payments directly from domestic crude sales proceeds before remittances to the Federation Account. As a result a sum of N1.40 trillion was claimed during the period by NNPC as oil subsidy payments.”

    The report noted that financial flows from the Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG) include dividends and repayment of loans of which $4.84 billion was received by the corporation.

    The report confirmed that these amounts have not been remitted neither to the Central Bank of Nigeria /NNPC JP Morgan Account nor the Federation Account.

     

     

  • Local content: PTI boss lauds NLNG

    THE Acting Principal/Chief Executive Officer, Petroleum Training Institute, Mrs N. C. Dennar, has praised the management of NLNG for supporting the institute to achieve its objectives.

    She spoke at a workshop for training managers of oil and gas and allied companies and PTI in Port Harcourt.

    She said: “I must add that effective and fit for purpose training is a critical part of this process. There must be a clear understanding of the unequivocal role that the training function is called upon to play in shaping the future outlook of the industry. This is the reason the training managers’workshop is critical to us, to provide a forum to brainstorm on the needs and aspirations of the industry in line with modern technological trends.”

    In a lecture entitled: ‘’Building internal capacity for future sustainability – the NLNG experience”’, a Human Resources Manager with LNLG, Dr Yahaya Lawal, stressed the importance of capacity to the sustenance of businesses. He listed the various the different methods, processes and models by LNLG in building its capacity.

    In a communique, the participants urged PTI, among others, ‘’to initiate strategic partnership with professional bodies, such as SPE, NAPE and the Federal Ministry of labour to obtain international certification for its industry-related courses and that the state-of-the-art equipment installed under the PTDF upgrade project to provide a crucial basis for acquiring self-accreditation.”

  • Naira firms on Shell, NLNG dollar sales

    Naira firms on Shell, NLNG dollar sales

    The naira firmed against the U.S dollar on the interbank market yesterday, supported by dollar sales by two energy companies, which boosted greenback supplies.

    The local currency strengthened to N157.30 to the dollar on the interbank market, firmer than the N157.40 it closed on Friday.

    “The market liquidity was boosted through dollar sales by Shell and Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) company, which provided support for the naira,” one dealer said.

    Traders said the naira should remain stable around the present level as dollar inflows from month-end sales by energy companies and offshore investors buying treasury bills at an auction this week could balance out demand in the market.

    On the bi-weekly auction, the Central Bank of Nigeria sold $150 million at N155.76, same amount and rate at the last auction.

    The naira had weakened to around a three week low last week, pressured by demand for dollars from gasoline importers, but the local currency rallied on dollar inflows from oil companies and from offshore investors buying bonds.

  • NLNG shortlist out

    Three novelists have been shortlisted for the NLNG Nigeria Literature Prize.

    The shortlist was made known to the public last weekend after a protracted consideration of the 10 names in the long list. The following are the novelists.

    Chika Unigwe (On Black Sister’s Street),

    Olusola Olugbesan (Only A Canvas),

    Ngozi Achebe (Onaedo, The Blacksmith’s Daughter).

    The final list will be made known to the public first week of next month.

    Thereafter, a ceremony will be held to honour the winner of the one hundred thousand dollars literary prize.

    The award was instituted in 2006 in the four genres of literature.

  • Three books shortlisted for 2012 Nigeria Prize for Literature

    Three books shortlisted for 2012 Nigeria Prize for Literature

    The Advisory Board for the Nigeria Prize for Literature has approved a final shortlist of three books out of the initial shortlist of ten released last month.

    According to a statement signed by Ifeanyi Mbanefo, Manager, Corporate Communications & Public Affairs for NLNG, the organizer of the award, the books are Onaedo: The Blacksmith’s Daughter by Ngozi Achebe, Only a Canvas by Olusola Olugbesan and On Black Sister’s Street by Chika Unigwe.

    Chairman of the Board, Emeritus Professor Ayo Banjo, said the eventual winner of the competition will be announced on 1st November, 2012, at a world press conference in Lagos.

    Onaedo: The Blacksmith’s Daughter is the story of Onaedo, a young teenager of Igbo extraction, in the time before the English colonialists, her daily struggles of being a woman in a patriarchal society and how she dealt with life, love and at some point, an unloving husband. Ngozi Achebe, a medical doctor by training, lives in the United States with her children, Jennifer and Nnamdi and is a practicing physician. Onaedo: The Blacksmith’s Daughter is her first novel.

    Only a Canvas is a tale of exhilarating characters from different backgrounds with dreams intricately woven together to create a tapestry of life. Olusola Olugbesan is an architect, married with three children and writes as a hobby. Only a Canvas is Olugbesan’s first novel.

    On Black Sister’s Street tells a gripping story of the lives of four African migrants working the red light district of Antwerp in Belgium brought together by bad luck and big dreams into a sisterhood that will change their lives. The Enugu-born graduate of English Language and Literature, Chika Unigwe, lives in Belgium. She is married with four children.

     

  • How Nigeria lost $2b to gas flaring last year – Gowon

    How Nigeria lost $2b to gas flaring last year – Gowon

    Nigeria flayed over $2 billion worth of gas last year, former head of state, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, has said.
    Gen. Gowon spoke on Wednesday in Finima, Bonny Island, Rivers State.
    The former Head of State, who was on a visit to the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Plant on the Island, said the country would have more money for development projects by ending gas flaring.
    He said the country has to ensure that steps were fast-tracked to complete the NLNG Train Seven and other LNG projects to end gas flaring.
    He said countries such as Qatar have taken over the leadership of the LNG market from NLNG, which used to be the fastest growing in the world.
    He said: “Think of how much cash, sorry gas, we burnt between when we found oil in 1957 and when Nigeria LNG was able to start monetising our gas resources in 1999. Last year, this country flared over 460 billion standard cubic feet of gas that, if processed and exported, would have fetched the country over $2 billion and minimised the health and environmental impact of gas flares.
    “Think of how oil palm industry left Nigeria for Malaysia. Think of how athletics – we won Gold at the Sydney Olympics 12 years ago – left Nigeria to Jamaica. And the worst of all, countries we started out with in the LNG business have all left us behind.”
    Gen. Gowon lamented the country’s loss of the leadership of the LNG market.
    “Nigeria LNG Limited used to be the fastest growing LNG plant in the world. But for the past five years, a country like Qatar has moved from 20 to 80 million tonnes range, whilst a country like Australia has made final investment decision to build LNG projects up to 80 million tonnes. I now understand that Mozambique and Tanzania will soon be joining the gas producers with the export of LNG,” he stated.
    He urged the Federal Government to ensure all the LNG projects were completed.
    The former Head of State said: “All the LNG projects on the drawing board in Nigeria (NLNG Train Seven, Brass LNG, OKLNG) will add about 30million tonnes of LNG to our national output, which is not that much when we compare with Australia, which has only 60 per cent of our reserves but effectively generates much higher domestic electricity and will soon be exporting much more LNG than all the LNG companies in Nigeria combined.”
    He warned of the consequence of not acting on time.
    “So, I am still not completely fulfilled that we haven’t reached our destination in that journey we started so long ago. I am worried that history is about to repeat itself as other players (including the United States, a previous importer now a net exporter) will get to the global market ahead of us and it may be another 30-50 years lost. I will not like to see another great opportunity lost due to our lethargy.
    We can’t afford to sit on the fence any longer,” Gen. Gowon noted.