President Muhammadu Buhari says the success story of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) proves that Nigeria has great capacity to deliver value to the world by harnessing our natural resources.
President Buhari disclosed this while speaking virtually at the Ground Breaking Ceremony of NLNG Train 7 in Bonny, Rivers State, on Tuesday, 15th June 2021.
The President who was enthused to see the transformation of the company, which started as a project in the early 90s, noted that it has achieved over 20 years of responsible operations and steady supply of Liquefied Natural Gas, Liquefied Petroleum Gas and Natural Gas Liquids into the global market.
In consonance with the outline in the National Gas Policy of 2017, President Buhari said “the focus of his administration is to boost the development of Nigeria’s abundant gas resources, strengthen the gas value chain, develop the much-needed infrastructure and enhance safe operations in the sector”.
In his remarks Rivers State Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike expressed the State Government’s desire to continue to partner with the NLNG which he described as a critical national asset and a worthy partner in development.
He said his Administration had taken deliberate steps to ensure that all genuine businesses in the State are given the necessary support to thrive, adding that the NLNG and all the multinational oil companies operating in the State would continue to enjoy a favourable environment to operate.
“We have continued to build massive infrastructure to enhance commerce and industry, the State can rightly be described as a huge construction site, where the construction of several developmental projects like roads, bridges, and jetties, rehabilitation of existing public buildings, shore protection, land reclamation and sand filling has either been completed or are on-going simultaneously.
The harmonization of taxes to end double taxation, prompt issuance of Certificate of Occupancy, the establishment of the Ease of Doing Business Council and massive support to the security agencies are all aimed at making Rivers State secure and an investor’s delight”. Governor Wike further stressed.
The State Chief Executive commended the leadership of the NLNG for making Port Harcourt its Corporate Headquarters which according to him attests to the fact that Port Harcourt and indeed Rivers State is safe for business, while urging other multinationals to emulate NLNG.
He encouraged the Federal Government of Nigeria to speed up the completion of the Bonny Bodo Road Project and the East West Road, which connects the economic nerve centre of the nation with other parts of the Country as a matter of priority.
The Governor called on the Federal Government to take measures to enable the Eastern Ports function maximally to stimulate economic activities at the Ports and give the people of the area a sense of belonging.
Also speaking the Minister of State for Petroleum Chief Timipre Silva said the incorporation of Nigeria LNG Limited in 1989 and its eventual commencement of operation ten years later in 1999, represents one of the bold steps taken by the Federal Government to partner with global institutions to deliver benefit to our country, stressing that the nations operational flare settings had reduced drastically from 65% were Nigeria LNG came into operation to about 12% today.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NLNG Mr. Anthony Attah had earlier said Train 7 which is of strategic national importance would amongst other things provide 12,000 jobs at the peak of its construction with increased revenue to the Federal Government and about 10 billion dollars in foreign direct investments.
