Nigeria Moves to Join Africa's Floating LNG Club

摘要

Already working on an expansion of its land-based Nigeria LNG(NLNG)plant on Bonny Island,Nigeria is also planning its first floating liquefaction facility.If the delays plaguing the onshore expansion are any guide,it could be some time before the offshore project sees the light of day(WGI Nov.11'20).But the 1,2 million ton per year scheme's backer,Nigerian oil and gas firm UTM Offshore,promises it will progress faster and more smoothly than NLNG.It is targeting a final investment decision by January 2022,with construction starting by June 2022,CEO Julius Rone tells Energy Intelligence.Founded in 2012,UTM calls itself a"premium provider"in the offshore sector,active in subsea engineering,dredging,construction,logistics and security,as well as a participant in Nigeria's crude-for-product swaps.The first milestone-receipt of a license to establish the project from the Department of Petroleum Resources-came in early February.A pre-front-end engineering and design(Feed)contract is expected to be signed with Japan's JGC Corp.this week.The plan is for JGC to then do both the Feed and construction contracts.The two-year license commits UTM to an ambitious timetable,but Rone says that,"for now,I can't see anything stopping us."