Nigerian govt urges IOCs to allow third party use gas pipelines – The Federal Government yesterday urged its partners in the Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG) project to allow the transportation of third-party gas through its joint pipelines to increase gas supply to the plant.
Following the refusal of the partners – Shell, Chevron, NNPC and others – to allow third parties to transport gas through their pipelines to the NLNG Trains, the company has been unable to operate at full capacity, thus causing its inability to meet domestic and international gas obligations.
The NLNG produces at about 70 per cent installed capacity.
Minister of State Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva in an audience with the new Italian Ambassador to Nigeria, Sefano De Leo, in Abuja, said if the NLNG partners relax their rules, the company will be able to provide gas to help ease European Union’s gas crisis.
He said: “The issue we have with the NLNG Trains is that of insufficient gas supply. The partners are running out of gas and they are refusing third parties to supply gas to the Trains.
“The partners are insisting that they can only allow third party supply gas to the plant only if they agree to supply at subsidised rates.
“These people of course want to make money and they cannot supply at subsidized rates and that is why the NLNG Trains cannot produce at full capacity.
“The partners can afford to supply at subsidised rates because they are partners in the NLNG project and not the third parties.
“This is a very critical issue that I want to discuss with the partners to see how we can resolve this problem so that we can increase the production capacity of the NLNG.”
The minister, who stressed the long-standing relationship between Nigeria and Italy, also sought the cooperation of the Italian government for night helicopter rescue operations, adding that at the moment, helicopters could not fly in the night in Nigeria, thus foreclosing any rescue operations at that time.
He said: “For us, this is a very important matter. We want to develop a 24 hours’ economy. We want a situation where helicopters can fly 24 hours in Nigeria.”
De Leo stressed the importance of Nigeria in Africa and noted that as the continent’s most populous country, it would be difficult for anyone to ignore the country both at the political and economic front.
“At the moment, the EU wants to diversify its energy sources, especially gas, and Nigeria is very strategic to us. We have been long-standing friends and partners and one of the most important one for that matter. So, we need to continue to dialogue on how things can be done properly. In Africa, no country is more strategic than Nigeria because of its population, economy and political position. So, we are happy to work with you,” the Ambassador further stated.