The Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative has signed a $27m deal with the LNG Arete to develop a Liquified Natural Gas project in Ajaokuta, Kogi state.
This project, according to the parties, will aid the transportation of gas to other parts of the country, especially the North.
Speaking during the signing ceremony in Abuja, Micheal Oluwagbemi, program director of PCNGI noted that LNG Arete limited have gone through various processes and commited about $12m as counterpart funding for the project.
Oluwagbemi stated that the project is projected to cost a total of $27.3m, noting that about $6m would be contributed by the PCNGI and additional investment would come from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund.
He announced that the completion period for the project is between 12 to 18 months, adding that equipment required were already available.
According to him, the Government’s involvement in the project increased the capacity from three million standard cubic feet of gas to seven million standard cubic feet.
“This is what we want when we ask for private sector partnership. We want companies that do not just come to us seeking for freebies, but the ones that have already done their work, developed their project, they have identified sources of funding that can work along with us.
“Our work as government is then to catalyze the finishing funding to make that project a reality, to scale that project. Maybe this project will have a 3m SCF if we don’t come in but now it’s 7m SCF a day and that is our work as government.
” But even more importantly is that we are putting incentives in place, which is part of this package of what we’re signing today to fast tracking permits and enabling gas allocation,” he said.
Oluwagbemi explained that despite the abundant gas resources in the country, the constraint has always been how to not just produce it, but how to distribute it.
Explaining the benefits, he said the project is expected to make gas more readily available in the northern parts of the country.
Besides creating about 100 jobs at the plant in Ajaokuta, he disclosed that there will be additional three processing plants in each of the 19 northern states.
He said that the need to ensure Nigerians enjoy the benefits of cheaper, cleaner, safer, and more reliable gas has driven the PCNGI to look for immediate and sustainable solutions.
“We are here today because Nigerian people have believed in the president’s vision that this country, a country blessed with gas in over 30 of our 36 states, has no business being solely dependent on oil. Gas is cheaper, it is safer, and it’s more reliable.
“Nigerian people’s belief also meant that all across this country, especially in the far north, there has been increasing demand to be able to access gas to enable transportation and other sectors.
“The project is not just a solution that will immediately solve the problem of unlocking gas resources to the north, but will also, over the long term, when those gas resources are in the north, are still quite useful for the economy.”
In her remarks, the project director, LNG Arete, Hajara Pitan, said that the project will deepen Nigeria’s participation in the gas market.
She noted that the major reason for lack of development of the gas sector has been the fact that infrastructure in gas is expensive.
“But with the mini LNG technology, we can participate as Nigerians in this sector in a major way. Our aim is clear in LNG Arete to support the federal government in deepening gas utilization across Nigeria and especially in the underserved regions of northern Nigeria.
“This project is going to be completed in a 12 to 16-month timeline. And we’re excited for what it does, not just for mobility CNG, which is one of our major targets, but for industrialization in the region and the employment of youth in that region,” she said.
Also speaking, Executive Director, Portfolio, Ministry of Finance Incorporated, MOFI, Tajudeen Ahmed described the project as a welcome development.”
