By Princess-Ekwi Ajide, Abuja
The Federal Government of Nigeria says it will support the UTM Floating Liquefied Natural Gas Limited and its foreign partners for the timely actualisation of their gas project.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu who made the pledge at the State House, Abuja, during an audience with the management of the company and its foreign partners, promised to remove all impediments to the timely completion of the facility.
The President commended UTM FLNG Limited and its technical partners, Technip Energies of France, and its Japanese counterpart, JGC, for the initiative and partnership, saying that though Nigeria has abundance of gas on the ground, the extractive industry needs the injection of their kind of partnership to be able to promote growth.
A statement signed by the Special Adviser Special Duties, Communication, and Strategy, Dele Alake, quoted the President as saying it is a must for any government to support such projects and urged them to let him know if there are any bottlecks so as to break them.
The President applauded the conglomerate for the massive investment which, he said, would promote growth and protection of the environment.
Earlier, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of UTM Offshore Limited, Mr. Julius Rone, had told the President that the project aligns with his promise to develop Nigeria gas resources as a source of sustainable energy and economic development for the country.
He said when the facility gets upstream by the fourth quarter of 2026, it would process 1.5 million meterric tonnes of Liquefied Natural Gas for the foreign market, and produce 300,000 metric tonnes of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) for domestic use.
Mr. Rome said the company would cater for 25 percent of domestic demand for LPG and solicited President Tinubu’s support to eliminate any encumbrances that may endanger the delivery of the project by the targeted date.
The French Ambassador to Nigeria, Emmanuelle Blatmann, in a remark, described the project as a milestone, cementing the French presence in Nigeria’s economic space.
According to her, the facility, would advance the economic diversification agenda of the Federal Government by tapping into the country’s abundant gas deposit.
When delivered, she said, the gas from Nigeria would be viable as an alternative source of gas for Europe.
Also in the delegation were the Japanese Deputy Ambassador to Nigeria, Ms Hiromi Otuski, Managing Director of JGC, Mr. Naoki Noguchi, and Project Advisor, Mr. Sadeeq Mai Bornu.