Cooking gas price set to crash as NNPCL partners UTMOL

“The collaborative initiative will result in the creation of 3,000 direct employment and an additional 4,000 indirect employment”

In its bid to make cooking gas affordable and accessible, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), has struck a deal with UTM Offshore aimed at increasing production to 1.7mmtpa of LNG and 300,000 metric tons of LPG (cooking gas).

At the signing ceremony at the corporate headquarters of NNPCL in Abuja on Thursday, Mr Julius Rone, the project promoter and Group Managing Director of UTM Offshore, confirmed that the collaborative initiative will result in the creation of 3,000 direct employment and an additional 4,000 indirect employment.

Persecondnews gathered that Nigeria lost N150bn to gas flaring in four months, oil and gas companies operating in Nigeria flared 92.3 million standard cubic feet of gas between January and April 2023.

The partnership with UTM also seek to tackle and reduce deforestation and attendant carbon emissions, the volume of gas flared in the first quarter of 2023, is equivalent to 4.9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

Rone said: “Final Investment Decision (FID) is expected to be taken in the fourth quarter of 2023 with planned project start up in the fourth quarter of 2026. When completed, it will produce 1.7mmtpa of LNG and 300,000 metric tons of LPG (cooking gas) which will be fully dedicated to the domestic market.

“The project is estimated to provide direct employment for 3,000 Nigerians and another indirect employment for an additional 4,000 people.

“The LPG produced will help bring down the price of cooking gas, improve the socioeconomic wellbeing of Nigerians, reduce deforestation and attendant carbon emission.

“We understand how important this is to Nigerians and Nigeria’s economy, and we are committed to enlisting and partnering with only the best to actualize this project. We are leaving no stone unturned in terms of the quality of companies that will deliver this project.

“So, apart from these international companies of foremost global reputation that have been contracted to build the facility, our historic partnership with NNPCL today signals yet another milestone in our dedication to ensuring that this project is not only realized but also meets the set objectives.

“Our aim is to complete the FEED towards the end of October 2023, and hopefully start work on the Open Book Estimate (OBE) for the EPC contract in November 2023.

“There are many intellectual property rights attached to such a project and such rights cannot be moved from one company to another. It may end up in the EPC with JGC and Technip. And once that is done, in line with international best practice, they need to also do the OBE negotiation with us.

” It was for this reason that we brought in KBR Consulting Limited of the UK, an international engineering company of the same status as JGC and Technip, to serve as our engineering consultant since we do not have the experience yet to measure the deliverables from the outcome of the feed.

“The company will help us ensure that whatever JGC and Technip are doing in terms of engineering is in conformity with the project schedule and expectation.

“The importance we attach to this project because of its immeasurable value to our country means we have to be meticulous about the quality of those we engage on it.

“The Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) has also encouraged us to go on with the project without any anxiety and we are confident that government will demonstrate sufficient political will in this regard.”

He added: “It is worthy of note that this is the first indigenous company to embark on such a project and by the grace of God, we will succeed.

“It is in light of this that we appreciate the group chief executive officer of NNPCL, Mr Mele Kyari, and his management team for demonstrating the uncommon zeal and patriotism by staking their own commitment to the project.

“It says a lot about what we are doing and the direction we are headed. I can assure you that in no distant time, Nigerians will start reaping the benefits of the project.”

In his remarks, the Group a Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Mr. Mele Kyari, said the NNPCL is interested in the project and committed to its actualization.

He said: “No matter the amount of reserves you have underground, if you haven’t brought it up to the surface, you have done nothing.

“This is why we are very interested in this project and we are going to do our own part to ensure its success. Be assured that NNPCL is solidly behind this project.”