The NLNG Shipping and Marine Services Limited (NSM), a subsidiary of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (Nigeria LNG Limited), has signed an agreement with Temile Development Company Limited for the management of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), Alfred Temile 10 vessel.
LPG Alfred Temile 10 is a 23,000 cubic metres liquefied petroleum gas vessel owned by Temile Development Company Limited, with NSML designated as the technical vessel manager.
The landmark agreement, which was signed by the two indigenous companies, will not only boost maritime operation in the oil and gas sector, but also deepen the LPG utilisation in the country.
Speaking at the agreement signing ceremony on Tuesday in Abuja, the executive vice president, Gas, Power and New Energy of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC LTD), Olalekan Ogunleye, assured Alfred Temile that NSML was very capable and would be given every support to manage any number of vessels the company would deliver.
Ogunleye, who is also the chairman of the board of the NSML, said the signing of the agreement demonstrated that the board was satisfied with what the management of the NSML is doing, and would give every support to enable them expand their activities.
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Represented by the Chief Investment Officer, Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Gas and Power Investment Services, Dr Salihu Jamari, the executive vice president said the board would also ensure that the NSML became a dominant marine services provider in the region, not only in West Africa but in the whole of Africa.
Also speaking, the chief executive officer of Temile Development Company Limited, Alfred Temile, expressed joy over the milestone agreement signed with the NSML.
Alfred said that when the company took delivery of the first Alfred Temile a couple of years ago, “it was not a commercial decision but a decision of ‘we can do it’.” And now, the company has done it.
He said: “There are many more to come. We are at the final stage of taking final investment decision (FID) on another LPG tanker. There are a lot of investment decisions we are taking, in terms of deepening our participation in the gas sector,” he said.
Earlier, the general manager, External Relations and Sustainability Development at NLNG, Andy Odey, said one key part of the company’s value chain was transportation; and NSML plays a very strong role in that space.
He noted that, “In 19 years, the NSML has done so much and transformed to such a point where 11 of our vessels are fully managed by it.”
Speaking on the contribution of Alfred Temile to the domestic utilisation of LPG in Nigeria, he said, “The company plays a strategic role in ensuring that LPG or domestic cooking gas takes our facility to every part of Nigeria, such that today, we are responsible for about 40 per cent of the LPG consumed in Nigeria”.
The NSML is a private limited liability company that provides shipping services, including training, manning, fleet management and consultancy services to NLNG, Bonny Gas Transport (BGT) and the sub-Saharan Africa maritime sector.