BY FESTUS OKOROMADU
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited on Saturday signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Indorama Eleme Petrochemicals Limited on gas supply with the aim of promoting the use of natural gas by large-scale utilisation industries.
A statement by NNPCL spokesperson, Garba Deen Muhammad, said both companies agreed to explore and develop suitable opportunities within the remits of both parties’ interests across the hydrocarbon value chain in Nigeria.
NNPCL, Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, was quoted to have summarized the development thus, “NNPC Limited is on the threshold of making value out of gas beyond any imagination.”
He added that with this project, “We are seeing an annual contribution of $3bn to the nation’s GDP and a lifetime contribution of $18bn to government revenue.”
As part of the company’s vision of operating the largest Petrochemical Hub in Africa, Indorama which owns the world’s largest single-train Urea Plant located in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, is currently working on expansion plans within the next six years, in the gas-based heavy manufacturing industries including fertilizer, methanol, and petrochemicals.
In his remarks, the MD/CEO, Africa Indorama Energy, Manish Mundra, stated that, “This is a strategic collaboration to unlock Nigeria’s upstream sector, but more importantly, to partner downstream, in order to share the value chain.” He said that “Nigeria’s gas reserves should position the country as one of the largest producers of urea in the western hemisphere.”
Key benefits of the opportunities include the monetization of over 1.7 TCF of gas and 100 million barrels of oil reserves, generation of upstream lifecycle revenue of over $18bn, downstream production of about 4.8 Million Tonnes Per Annum of products including methanol, urea, and fertilizer to boost national food security.
Other benefits include the creation of about 55,000 direct and indirect employment opportunities, the development of a condensate refinery to boost petroleum product supply and reduce product importation, annual GDP contribution of over $3.8bn, and attraction of over $7bn of foreign direct investment into the country.
The NNPCL MOU with Indorama follows Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu’s commitment in India a few weeks ago, to strengthen business relations between both countries.
