The Minister of State, Petroleum Resources (Gas), Hon. Ekperipe Ekpo, said this during the issuance and presentation of the licence to the company by the Chief Executive of Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Farouk Ahmed, on Friday in Abuja.

According to Ekpo, this licence marks a historic milestone as it will be the first floating LNG facility in Nigeria, aimed at boosting the country’s gas production and utilisation.

“This is in line with the mission of President Bola Tinubu to grow gas production, distribution, and utilisation.

“In line with the Decade of Gas Initiative, we are looking at gas driving the economy of this nation come 2030. We are going to achieve that.

” I salute NMDPRA for due diligence, and I salute the CEO of UTM LNG, for the bold step him and his team have taken to bring to work what we are going to celebrate today.

“I believe that after this presentation and celebration, all other things that need to be done to make sure the dream of today is realised tomorrow will be done,” he said.

Ekpo said that the Federal Government was committed to providing a conducive environment that would ensure the realisation of its dream of increasing gas production to 12 billion cubic feet by 2030.

Earlier, the NMDPRA Chief Executive said that the project, located offshore Akwa Ibom State in OML 104, would process 324 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD) of natural gas.

Ahmed said that the project, initially designed for a capacity of 1.2 MTPA, UTM Offshore upgraded the facility’s scope to meet rising global LNG demand, resulting in an increased capacity of 2.8 MTPA.

According to him, the project aligns with the main aspirations of the PIA 2021, which includes the expansion of Midstream Gas Facilities in Nigeria.

” It also aligns with the targets of the Decade of Gas Programme and other Gas Expansions projects of the current administration.

“It is projected to be commissioned in the year 2028. The products from the project include LNG, LPG, and condensate,” he said.

Ahmed reaffirmed the NMDPRA’s commitment to providing guidance and oversight for the project’s successful implementation while also ensuring it complied with all regulatory requirements throughout its lifecycle.

Responding, the Managing Director, UTM Offshore, Julius Rone, thanked Tinubu and the NMDPRA for their support in ensuring the issuance of the licence..

Rone said that this project had a capacity to bring into domestic market 500,000 metric ton of LPG to support the domestic market per annum.

“Nigeria require over two million tons per annum, so we are importing LPG for domestic market, and everybody is paying expensive prices for LPG.

“We are not going to export it. We are going to use it to support the domestic market; it will reduce the pressure on forex and will drastically reduce the price of cooking gas,” said.

According to him, the first gas supply from the multi-billion Naira project is expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2029.(NAN)