NLNG pays over $100bn to FG, other equity holders

Managing Director of the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG), Tony Attah, on Wednesday disclosed that over $100 billion has so far been remitted to the federal government and other equity holders in the company as revenue.

Attah disclosed this at the investigative hearing organized by the House of Representatives Committee on Gas Resources into the proposed sale of the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG), contract modification of EGP3B production platform following the joint venture agreement between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Chevron Nigeria Limited and contract upgrade of OML 58 upgrade 1, the execution of Obote/Ubeta/Rumuji pipeline’.

According to him, the federal government through the NNPC which owns 49 per cent equity got over $15 billion as dividend and $6.5 billion as tax, which positioned the company as the singular highest tax paying company in Nigeria and in the African continent.

Other shareholders are Shell Gasa BV which owns 25.6 per cent equity, Total which owns 15 per cent equity and ENI International which owns 10.4 per cent equity in the NLNG.

On the company’s efforts towards reducing gas flaring in the country, Attah said “as a result of Nigeria LNG being in existence, we have helped reduce gas flaring by more than 65 per cent and will continue to work with our upstream suppliers to mop-up more because we produce the opportunity as the biggest gas sink for whatever gas is provided in the country.

“We have the capacity to receive that gas but I think by far the biggest opportunity is in Nigeria’s brand and reputation. Before NLNG, Nigeria was actually number two on the undesired league of gas flaring nations in the world.

“But today, we are number seven ahead of other countries like the United States; I mean, the United States is flaring more gas than Nigeria”.

He added that the company is spending about $120 million on the construction of the Bonny-Bono Road which will connect Bonny to Port-Harcourt, and is slated for completion within 40 months.

Rep. Randoff Brown (PDP/Rivers) speaking at the investigative hearing, observed that the NLNG is the most significant arrow-head of the federal government’s quest to eliminate gas flaring and derive value from the country’s 187 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves.

“The NLNG has gas to export as liquefied natural gas and natural gas liquids, thus helping to reduce gas flaring by upstream companies from over 60 per cent to less than 25 per cent,” he said.

Also speaking, Rep. Diri Douye (PDP/Bayelsa), who sponsored the motion on the need to investigate the contract for the modification of the EGP 3B production platform following the joint venture agreement between the federal government, NNPC and Chevron Nigeria Limited, frowned at the delay in completing the project.