Mr. Tony Attah, Managing Director, Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG), said that 55 per cent of all procurement for execution of the Train 7 project would be undertaken by Nigerian vendors.

Attah disclosed this at the ongoing 3rd Nigeria International Petroleum Summit (NIPS), in Abuja on Monday.

The theme of the summit is: “Widening the integration circle: Technology, Knowledge, sustainability partnership’’.

“The very quick wins from Train 7 project for Nigeria are the creation of jobs for our teeming youth, netting up to 12,000 direct jobs at the construction phase, and the associated skills acquisition through technology transfer.

“Riding on the back of a robust Nigerian Content plan endorsed by the Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board (NCDMB), 55 per cent of the Engineering activities for Train 7 will be carried out in-country

“Fifty-five per cent of all procurement for execution of the project will be undertaken by Nigerian vendors.

“100 per cent of the installations and construction will happen in Nigeria and the entire project will attract huge Foreign Direct Investment to the Nigerian economy,” he said.

Represented by the General Manager Production, Mr Adeleye Falade, he said that other benefits of train 7 included the emergence of upstream and other associated projects that would bolster the economy.

“With conversations like the ones we are having here at NIPS, there is no doubt that we can all build synergies that should propel Nigeria LNG to sustain its winning streak and support the emergence of new LNG suppliers in the country and the continent at large.

“Our motivation to build and operate Train 7 is heightened by the proven success recorded by Nigeria LNG in the past 20 years of operation,’’ he said.

On hazards, he said that at the current state the company had significantly reduced the environmental hazards arising from gas flaring.

“To date, the company has converted about 191.5bcm (billion standard cubic metres) or 6.8cf (trillion cubic feet) of Associated Gas (AG) to Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs),’’ he said.

According to Attah, the feat has reduced gas flaring by Upstream Companies from over 60 per cent.

“ln the past 20 years, Nigeria LNG has resiliently maintained top rating as a significant player and the 5th major supplier of global LNG with the export of over 4,500 LNG cargoes delivered safely worldwide.

“The addition of Train 7 to our current six-train plant will add another eight million metric tons of LNG to the current sustained 22 million metric tons production capacity of our plant.

That, he said, would keep Nigeria prominently on the list of the top 7 suppliers of global LNG.

“This is an enviable position for an African country to achieve in the face of our evolving technological advancement on cleaner energy,” he added

He noted that Nigeria’s growing response to the demand for cleaner energy sources to power the world had accentuated the critical role that the premium crude oil and natural gas resources played in that space.

He noted that the focus of this year’s conference was a pointer to the fact that Nigeria and Africa continent were conscious of the need to strategically harness all those elements.

“They will certainly give us an edge to maximally benefit from the volatile and highly competitive global energy sector,” he added. (NAN)