NLNG and NCDMB Strengthen Partnership to Enhance Gas Supply
The Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) and the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), have stated that they have finalized productive discussions towards collaboration in support of NLNG’s planned revamp and enhancement of key operational facilities in Trains 1 to 6 of the NLNG Plant.
The two agencies said the initiative is aimed at improving asset performance and overall productivity in the sector.
Speaking during the Nigerian Content Stakeholders Retreat hosted at NLNG’s operational base at Finima, Bonny Island, Rivers State, the General Manager Production in NLNG,
Nnamdi Anowi, outlined the company’s revamp programme named “Accelerated Asset Intervention (AAI).”
The General Manager, External Relations and Sustainable Development in NLNG, Sophia Horsfall and General Manager Corporate Communications of NCDMB, Dr Obinna Ezeobi, in a statement on Thursday, explained that the initiative is expected to commence in 2026 and will require NCDMB’s support and relevant approvals to enable timely execution.
They quoted Anowi as saying that the AAI programme is intended to overhaul the Trains and Common Facilities, which are key to operations.
He said: “The goal is to implement predictive maintenance and continue to deliver sustainable top quartile and reliability performance, continue to deliver gas and value to the country and retain NLNG’s position as the best company in the country.”
Responding, the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, represented by the Director of Capacity Building, NCDMB, Engr. Abayomi Bamidele, pledged NCDMB’s support for NLNG’s plans, in line with the existing close collaboration between the organizations and NCDMB’s role as a regulator and business enabler in the oil and gas industry.
He stated that NCDMB and NLNG had collaborated successfully to develop the first Service Level Agreement (SLA) between an operating company and a regulator in the Nigerian oil and gas industry and are currently working on other technical capacity building initiatives.
He recalled that NCDMB granted accelerated approvals for key projects in the NLNG Train 7, which enabled the project to commence in 2020 at the height of COVID-19 pandemic.
NCDMB equally granted speedy approvals and support for the new gas projects, which will provide feedstock for Train 7, he stated.
He emphasized the need for NLNG to optimize Nigerian content and utilize in-country capacities in the proposed packages, in line with the provisions of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act.
He expressed delight that the Train-7 Project currently employs thousands of workers, describing it as a huge contribution to the nation’s economy.
Dr. Ernest Nwapa, pioneer Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, noted that NLNG’s leadership in local content development goes back many years, recalling that the company stood out as an early “icon of Nigerian Content” because of its voluntary compliance.