Nigeria LNG targets 2015 for Train 7 project’s take-off

Barring any unforeseen circumstance, the Train 7 expansion project of Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG), at Bonny Island, Rivers State would come on stream in 2015.

NLNG’s commitment to the project was made by its Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Babs Omotowa on Sunday, in Marmara, Turkey, at a ceremony to mark the delivery of the company’s 3000th cargo to Botas Petroleum and Pipeline Corporation of Turkey.

The delay in the Final Investment Decision (FID) on Train 7 has been eliciting concerns about the stability of gas supplies from upstream operators in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.

Already, NLNG has long-term gas supply agreements with three Joint Ventures (JVs) for the supply of natural gas to the existing gas plant.

Zimbabwe’s Green Fuel to invest U.S $1 billion

Green Fuel, Zimbabwe’s largest ethanol producer plans to spend close to US$1 billion on expansion in the medium term as the company seeks to become a regional ethanol giant, general manager Mr Graeme Smith has said.
About US$560 million would be spent on the construction of additional two plants with a combined capacity of 40 million litres of ethanol per month and US$400 million on developing farm land measuring 40 000 hectares.
Mr Smith said some money would also be invested in upgrading the current plant which would double capacity to 20 million litres.
“At the moment, we have 9 500ha and the potential total is around 50 000ha,” said Mr Smith. “To develop that, we had a 10 year plan . . . but in the next seven years, we intend to fully develop the entire project to the full potential of 50 000ha.

Nigeria’s offshore oil production seen rising amid IOCs’ shift

As international oil companies (IOCs) shift increasingly offshore, oil production from the region is expected to continue its upward trajectory as the oil majors look set to invest further capital in offshore developments.

The growing shift by the oil majors to the offshore region, which now account for the large percentage of total oil production in the country, signals their continuing appetite for the country’s oil sector despite operational and regulatory challenges, said analysts.

Wumi Iledare, president of International Association for Energy Economics and director, Emerald Energy Institute, University of Port Harcourt, said, “We can expect increase in offshore production as investment in development of the fields increases. The beauty of offshore is that it does not require cash call from government. They are production-sharing contracts, but government approves the companies’ expenditure. Production is going to increase depending on how fast government approves the companies’ expenditure plan.”

More Nigerian export cargoes unsold

As the traders expect crude oil shipping schedule for March, there are indications that some of Nigeria’s cargoes for February were still awaiting orders.
However, the West African crude oil differentials remained under pressure this week, with sales slow down as buyers experience lower offers before picking up the ample supply available for February loading.
Information gathered from Traders showed that about 25-30 Nigerian crude oil cargoes for February were still available for sale.
Highlighting fading demand from the biggest customers of West African crude oil, Reuters survey showed that exports to Asia would fall to about 1.86 million barrels per day from 2.16 million bpd in December.
Traders said that signs of increasing exports from Libya were adding to pressure on Nigerian crude oil grades, which are of similar quality.

Lagos to partner Germany, others, on renewable energy

The Lagos State Government says it would continue to collaborate with foreign investors for promotion of energy efficiency and conservation in the State.

The State’s Commissioner for the Environment, Tunji Bello, who spoke at the opening ceremony of a two-day seminar on renewable energy to promote energy efficiency and conservation, said Lagos, being the industrial nerve centre of the state and industrial haven in Nigeria, would continue to promote acts that that would boost the energy needs of the state.

Bello added that the seminar was to form a more formidable synergy with State of Bavaria, Germany, in developing capacity and sharing experiences on energy sector as this was critical to the development of the economy as well as the socio-economic growth of the State.

The commissioner said a huge gap existed between energy supply and demand in Nigeria, adding that the average annual energy consumption in Nigeria was one of the lowest in the world which had left the economy in a comatose state.