NNPC teams up with Wison for floating LNG project in Nigeria

Wison (Nantong) Heavy Industry, an affiliate of Wison Offshore & Marine (WOM), has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for the development of a floating LNG project in Nigeria, targeting the international LNG market.

Wison and NNPC signed the MoU at COP28 in Dubai on December 6, 2023. The agreement will see the two companies work together to chart a roadmap for the project development that will lead to an investment decision.

Olalekan Ogunleye, EVP Gas, Power & New Energy at NNPC, stated that the company is committed to delivering gas to industries nationwide and accelerating the company’s gas commercialization efforts through the floating LNG project.

Xu Kai, representative from Wison, said the Chinese company will be willing to work together with NNPC to develop the floating LNG project in a time-efficient manner and is looking forward to moving soon to the next stage.

Additional details on the project were not disclosed.

On the same day, NNPC Prime LNG signed a supply, installation, and commissioning agreement with SDP Services, an independent oil and gas company, for a 421-tonne-per-day LNG project targeting the domestic LNG market.

According to NNPC, the small-scale LNG (SSLNG) project, which will be located at Ajaokuta in Kogi State, Central Nigeria, will ensure the efficient supply of LNG to the autogas/compressed natural gas (CNG) and industrial/commercial customers nationwide. The project is expected to be operational by December 2024.

Earlier this year, the Nigerian company inked a Heads of Terms (HoT) agreement with UTM Offshore for the construction of the nation’s first indigenous floating LNG project.

The 1.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) floating LNG project is seen as a “must-do” initiative for Nigeria. It is also supported by $5 billion from the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank).