…Tells NLNG: Think of the people, turn gas flaring into cheaper domestic energy
By Yinka Giwa
President Bola Tinubu has challenged operators in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry to rethink energy pricing mechanisms and deepen domestic utilisation of the country’s abundant gas resources so that ordinary Nigerians can feel the benefits of the nation’s energy wealth.
The President specifically urged Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) to look beyond export earnings and returns on investment by helping to develop domestic energy solutions capable of easing the burden on households and businesses.
Tinubu spoke on Wednesday at the State House while receiving members of the NLNG Board and management led by its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Engineer Adeleye Falade.
The President said Nigeria must increasingly domesticate its energy requirements and evolve pricing mechanisms that ensure the country’s vast natural resources translate into tangible benefits for citizens.
“I think that is the primary focus. But think of people, the need for domestication of some of these energy requirements and pricing mechanisms so that the ordinary man will feel it,” Tinubu said.
He also challenged NLNG to intensify efforts to convert gas currently lost through flaring into economically productive resources for the domestic market, describing the practice as an environmental liability that could instead become an economic asset.
“My major concern is the domestic utilisation, where you must be able to take out the flaring and convert potential environmental liability to what could be strategically and economically beneficial to the consumers in the country,” the President said.
While acknowledging NLNG’s success in generating revenue and exploiting opportunities in the international gas market, Tinubu said the company must devote greater attention to the impact of its operations on Nigerians at home.
“Yes, you are doing great to really want the revenue up and taking advantage of international interests so that Nigeria might be deriving benefits, but help us back home,” he said.
Tinubu said Nigeria’s vast deposits of oil and gas would amount to little unless they were extracted and deployed to serve the economy, improve citizens’ lives and simultaneously produce sustainable returns on investment.
“We look straight far into the future, and I believe that this country has what it takes; but whatever asset that we have in the ground is nothing unless it’s brought up to service the economy, the people, and realisation of a good return on investment,” he said.
The President commended NLNG for improving its operational capacity and returns to shareholders, assuring the company that his administration was prepared to provide incentives required to stimulate further investment and expansion.
“I enjoy the teamwork and the way the NLNG is going, and you all, as team leaders, are giving value to what was the initial objective of the company. If any other incentive is needed to stimulate growth and expand your capacity, I will be willing to do that,” Tinubu said.
Earlier, Falade told the President that NLNG had generated more than $150 billion since inception, while its shareholders had received approximately $47 billion in dividends.
Nigeria owns a 49 per cent stake in the company.
Falade said NLNG had previously been operating at about 60 per cent capacity because of production constraints in the country, resulting in only four of its six available trains being utilised.
He said improvements in oil and gas production following developments in the sector had enabled the company to raise operations to five trains, with further increases expected.
According to him, NLNG is also working towards the inauguration of Train Seven, which is expected to increase its production capacity by 35 per cent.
He said Nigeria LNG currently accounts for about five per cent of the global LNG market.
On domestic supply, Falade told the President that all LPG produced by NLNG—commonly known as cooking gas—is now dedicated to the Nigerian market.
The development comes amid Tinubu’s push for the country’s energy resources to have a greater impact on domestic consumers rather than being viewed principally through the prism of exports and government revenue.
Falade also said NLNG shareholders had welcomed the stability in Nigeria’s fiscal environment, which he said was encouraging further investment.
He commended security agencies and regulators in the oil and gas industry for helping create greater stability in the sector.
The NLNG chief also informed Tinubu that construction of the Bonny-Bodo Road and Bridge project financed by the company had been completed and was awaiting official commissioning.
Other members of the NLNG delegation included Deputy Managing Director Olakunle Osobu; Managing Director of TotalEnergies EP Nigeria Limited and Country Chair, Matthieu Bouyer; Managing Director of Nigeria Agip Exploration, Maurizio Pinna; and General Manager, External Relations and Sustainable Development, Sophia Horsfall.
Minister of Information and National Orientation Mohammed Idris; Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga; and Senior Special Assistant to the President on Energy Transition, Yasmin Mohammed were also at the meeting.
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