The first floating liquefied gas station in Nigeria witnessed a decision to postpone the final investment to the second quarter of this year, 2024. The final investment decision in the Nigerian gas project is expected to be issued during the first quarter of this year, and before that it was said that it would be issued at the end of 2023.

Nigeria is relying on the first floating liquefied gas station with the aim of enhancing its exports abroad to bring in foreign exchange in addition to reducing gas burning emissions. Nigeria is considered to have the largest oil reserves in Africa and is scheduled to enter into operation in 2028. It will process the associated gas extracted from the Yoho field, which is managed by Exxon. American Mobil, with a 40% stake in exploration license 104, and the National Oil Company, NNPC, with a 60% stake.

Julius Ron, CEO of Nigerian maritime and logistics services company UTM Offshore, said that the company had asked the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Council to invest in shares in the project and expedite the issuance of key approvals to accelerate the pace of development.

A memorandum of understanding was concluded with Wesun Heavy Industry, a subsidiary of the Chinese Wesun Offshore & Marine Company, to build the first floating liquefied gas station in Nigeria. The two companies will work together to draw a development map that will lead to a decision on investing in the station.

An agreement was also concluded by UTM with the National Oil Company and the Delta State Government. UTM holds 72% of the project shares, the National Oil Company (NNPC) 20%, and the Delta State Government 8%. Agreement to build a floating liquefied gas terminal as a major step towards enhancing energy security in Nigeria.

During the end of 2022, a consortium composed of GJC and Tennip Energy obtained the first engineering design contract, and the project was financed with a value of $5 billion from the African Export-Import Bank.

The new production capacity is only for the first floating LNG stations. This was done as a result of the engineering design work carried out by the French company Energie and the Japanese company JGC. The French company is working on designing the structure of the station, designing the mooring system, and designing the parts for the Japanese company. After concluding the contract, the two companies will subcontract. With a Chinese company to build ships and install the upper parts, and there are several companies competing to win the contract, including “China” and “Cosco”.