NLNG earned $108bn, paid $35bn dividends in 21 yrs

The Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited said it has delivered 5000 gas cargoes to parts of the world earning $108 billion revenue while paying $35bn dividends in its 21 years of operation.

The General Manager, External Relations and Sustainable Development, Mrs Eyono Fatayi-Williams said this before the House of Representatives Committee on Gas Resources on Thursday.

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She said the company has recorded a steady growth since 1999 when the first cargo sailed from Bonny Island in Rivers State to France.

Eyono noted that the company has an $11bn asset base and had paid $8bn in taxes within the period.

The federal government has 49 per cent shares through the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) while Agip, Shell and Total have 51 per cent.

“We buy gas, we liquefy it, we transport it and sell it to the buyers and get value for Nigeria LNG and for Nigeria.

“In the 21 years we have operated, we have delivered 5000 LNG cargoes around the world and we have 23 dedicated LNG ships to ensure our operation runs smoothly.

“On Bonny Island, we have six installed and operation LNG trains (the train is also known as LNG manufacturing line) of 22 million tonnes capacity.

“Our installed asset is 11 billion dollars, today we have generated 108 billion dollars in revenue since inception and have delivered 35 billion dollars in dividends to the shareholders in the 21 years that we have operated and have paid eight billion dollars in taxes,” she said.

Fatayi-Williams also said that in the early days of crude oil exploration, 65 per cent of gas was flared but that has reduced to less than 12 per cent.

She noted that Nigeria is rated 9th in the world with 200 Trillion Cubic Feet (TCF) of proven gas reserves. And if monetised, the 600TCF of unproven gas reserves will propel Nigeria to the 4th position in the ranking order of global proven gas reserves.

The Managing Director (MD), NLNG, Mr Tony Attah informed the committee that it is time Nigeria fully utilise its Gas potentials.

“We want this committee to partner with us to raise the game on the awareness and to position Nigeria to take full advantage of the future,” he said.

Chairman of the Committee, Rep. Nicholas Mutu commended the NLNG for putting Nigeria among the largest exporters of gas in the world.

“We note with pride and commend the current NLNG management for the signing of Final Investment Decision (FID) for the establishment of Train 7 project,” he said.