Nigeria has signed a major gas expansion deal, a much-needed collaboration with oil majors that Nigeria LNG said would boost its liquefied natural gas output by more than 30 per cent.
The agreement marks a moment of amity with international oil majors, even as a tax dispute and a new law increasing the government’s take on deepwater oil production have irked some companies.
The final investment decision on the Train 7 processing unit at the Bonny Island plant was signed by Nigeria LNG partners state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Total and Royal Dutch Shell in Abuja.
The new train is expected to boost output by 35 per cent to 30 million tonnes per year, NLNG said in a statement, and will arrest a decline in Nigeria’s LNG output. NLNG operates six LNG processing units, known as trains, on Bonny Island.
The train 7 project has been delayed for several years. A previous deadline for a final investment decision in the fourth quarter of 2018 was not met. The west African country is rich in oil and gas but has been struggling to boost its output of both resources.
Its declining LNG production last year pushed it down to the world’s fifth largest producer, with the US taking its place at number four.
Total, Chevron and ExxonMobil are trying to pare back some Nigerian assets as they focus on projects elsewhere, including US shale.
Earlier this month, NLNG signed 20-year supply agreements with Shell, Eni and Nigerian oil company Oando to feed the Train 7 project.
