The federal government is shopping for new investors to revive the stalled Brass Liquified Natural Gas (BLNG) project, just as the Minister of State Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, pledged the government’s commitment to complete the project abandoned over 17 years ago.
He stated this during an inspection of the project site, in Twon Brass, Bayelsa State, at the weekend with officials of Greenville NLG, an interested investor in the BLNG, his spokesman, Horatius Egua, said in a statement.
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Sylva said the government was desirous of completing the project because of the many economic benefits it will bring to the nation.
The BNLG, which has trains 1-4 concept, with an annual projected capacity of 8.4 million metric tons, was initiated in 2005 with the groundbreaking ceremony performed by then President Olusegun Obasanjo on May 14, 2007.
The minister said the federal government would give the project top priority because of its present policy thrust on gas exploration.
“You know the direction of the government as far as gas is concerned. We want to use gas as a transition fuel and also to use it to diversify our economy. You know that with gas you can get so many things and I have said that we can truly diversify our economy through gas,” he said.
He also said the government will support Greenville NLG in investment in the multi-billion-dollar BNLG, noting that “we want this project to pull through this time and we will do everything possible to ensure that the Final Investment Decision (FDI) is taken as soon as possible.
“Greenville NLG is a major player in this sector and we know that they are committed to ensuring that the take-off of this project is achieved. We will continue to discuss and offer the necessary incentives to get this project off the ground,” Sylva stated in the presence of the Chairman and MD of Greenville LNG Mr Eddy Van Den Broeke, and Ritu Sahajwalla.
“We are calling for more investments in the hydrocarbon sector of the economy, especially in gas. We are encouraging companies interested in gas to do so. We have enough gas reserves in the country and we are encouraging anyone with the capacity to bring in their investments,” Sylva said.
Present investors in the Brass NLG project are the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Eni and Total.
