20th September, 2012
Nigeria plans to attain over 52 million tons per annum liquefied natural gas production capacity on completion of ongoing projects, state-run oil giant NNPC said in an official statement, Wednesday night.
Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer, exported 22 million tons of liquefied natural gas (lng) last year, the statement quoted the head of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Andrew Yakubu, as saying.
“From a modest two train base LNG project of eight million tons per annum in 1999 to the current six operating train capacity of 22 mtpa,” Yakubu said at a forum of lng producers and consumers in Japan, it said.
“In 2011, the six trains exported about 22 mtpa of LNG representing about 10% of world production,” said Yakubu in the statement, received in Abuja.
Other major LNG projects are in different stages of development, he said.
“On completion of these LNG projects Nigeria’s LNG production capacity will be over 52 mtpa,” he said.
He said that Nigeria was committed to supporting Japan’s aspirations on energy security and two Japanese firms — LNG Japan and Itochu — have been selected as strategic investors to NNPC in a Nigerian LNG project, the statement said.
A significant portion of gas from this project, to be supported by the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation, is expected to be delivered to Japan, said Yakubu.
Nigeria’s gas reserves have been estimated as the world’s eighth largest.