President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has urged the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) to intensify efforts to end gas flaring and convert the country’s gas reserves into economic benefits for Nigerians.
Tinubu gave the charge on Wednesday at the State House while receiving members of the NLNG Board, led by its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Engineer Adeleye Falade.
The President said Nigeria must move beyond simply increasing revenue from its gas resources and focus more on domestic utilisation, stressing that gas flaring should be transformed from an environmental liability into an economically beneficial resource.
He commended the NLNG management for increasing its operational capacity and improving returns on investment, while assuring the company of his administration’s readiness to provide incentives that would support further growth and expansion.
Tinubu also called for greater domestication of energy resources and pricing mechanisms that would enable ordinary Nigerians to benefit from the country’s natural resources.
He said having assets in the ground would mean little unless they were developed and used to serve the economy and improve the lives of citizens.
Falade told the President that the NLNG Board was at the State House to brief him on the company’s operations since he assumed office in April.
According to him, NLNG has generated more than $150 billion since inception, while its shareholders, including the Federal Government, have received about $47 billion in dividends. Nigeria holds a 49 per cent stake in the company.
Falade explained that NLNG had previously operated at about 60 per cent capacity because inadequate crude oil production limited operations to four of its six available trains.
He said increased oil production had now enabled the company to raise operations to five trains, with further improvements expected.
The NLNG chief executive also disclosed that all liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), commonly known as cooking gas, produced by the company is currently concentrated on the domestic market.
He said the company was looking forward to inaugurating Train Seven, which is expected to increase NLNG’s capacity by 35 per cent. Nigeria LNG currently accounts for about five per cent of the global LNG market.
Falade said shareholders had commended the stability in Nigeria’s fiscal environment, noting that it was helping to attract further investment into the oil and gas sector.
He also commended security agencies and industry regulators for contributing to the stability in the sector.
The NLNG Managing Director further disclosed that the construction of the Bonny-Bodo Road and Bridge project, financed by NLNG, had been completed and was awaiting official commissioning.
Other members of the NLNG team at the meeting included Deputy Managing Director Olakunle Osobu; Board Director and Managing Director of TotalEnergies EP Nigeria Limited, Matthieu Bouyer; Board Director, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Nigeria Agip Exploration, Maurizio Pinna; and General Manager, External Relations and Sustainable Development, Sophia Horsfall.
Manager, Government Relations and Regulatory Compliance, Abdul Umar; Head, Government Relations, Tonbrafa Nanaghan; and Senior Government Relations Adviser, Rufai Mohammed Lawal, were also present.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris; Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga; and Senior Special Assistant to the President on Energy Transition, Yasmin Mohammed, also attended the meeting.
