Nigeria, an established LNG exporter via the Bonny onshore terminal, could get its first floating producer as part of a new move revealed by the country’s government.
The country’s Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) said in a statement it has awarded a licence to privately-held company UTM Offshore to establish Nigeria’s first FLNG production plant.
Abuja-based UTM Offshore received the licence on February 8, according to DPR.
The firm plans to install a liquefaction unit with a capacity of 1.2 million tonnes per annum, sourcing gas from the Yoho field which lies in Oil Mining Lease 104, offshore Nigeria.
The Nigerian government holds 60% interest in the Yoho crude oil joint venture, through NNPC, while ExxonMobil’s MPN holds the remaining 40% and operates the development that started production back in 2003. The field also produces gas but the JV reinjects it to eliminate flaring and maximise oil recovery.
Boosting Nigeria’s LNG export capacity
“The plant would have a capacity to process 176 million standard cubic feet per day of natural gas and condensate with natural gas feedstock from Oil Mining Lease 104,” Nigerian law firm Templars said in a statement.
The firm is advising UTC Offshore on the development and financing of the FLNG project.
In addition, the law firm says work would now continue until completion of the project which would “contribute to the actualization of the zero flare policy of the Nigerian government as well as increasing Nigeria’s LNG production capacity.”
The new unit would probably take on the gas that the JV currently sends back to the field but neither DPR or Templars revealed any additional information on the development.
Should the project commercialize, the 1.2 mtpa FLNG would add to the 22 mtpa Bonny LNG plant already produces.
Moreover, the joint venture behind the six-train plant including NNPC, Shell, Total, and Eni is also adding an additional unit to boost capacity to 30 mtpa in total.