Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited ( NNPCL) and Indorama Eleme
Petrochemicals Ltd., have signed a Memorandum OF Understanding (MOU) to explore and develop suitable
opportunities within the remits of both parties’ interests across the hydrocarbon
value chain in Nigeria; a development that NNPC Ltd.’s GCEO, Mele Kyari,
summarized thus: “NNPC Limited is on the threshold of making value out of gas
beyond any imagination.”
As the national energy company, one of NNPC Ltd.’s roles as enshrined in article
64(i) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) is to promote the use of natural gas
through the development and operation of large-scale gas utilisation industries.
This role is in alignment with Nigeria’s Nigasification strategy which is a
consolidation of critical programs embarked upon by the company to utilise
natural gas and its associated liquids to be the energy source of choice, spur
economic growth, free up crude oil for exports, and ultimately enable job creation.
According to NNPC Ltd.’s GCEO, with this project, “we are seeing an annual
contribution of $3bn to the nation’s GDP and a lifetime contribution of $18bn to
government revenue.”
As part of the company’s vision of operating the largest Petrochemical Hub in
Africa, Indorama which owns the world’s largest single-train Urea Plant located in
Port Harcourt, Nigeria, is currently working on expansion plans within the next 6years, in the gas-based heavy manufacturing industries including fertilizer,
methanol, and petrochemicals.
In his remarks, the MD/CEO, Africa Indorama Energy, Manish Mundra, stated that
“This is a strategic collaboration to unlock Nigeria’s upstream sector, but more
importantly, to partner downstream, in order to share the value chain.” He said
that “Nigeria’s gas reserves should position the country as one of the largest
producers of urea in the western hemisphere.”
Key benefits of the opportunities include the monetization of over 1.7 TCF of gas
and 100 million barrels of oil reserves, generation of upstream lifecycle revenue of
over $18bn, downstream production of about 4.8 Million Tonnes Per Annum
(MTPA) of products including
Other benefits include the creation of about 55,000 direct and indirect
employment opportunities, the development of a condensate refinery to boost
petroleum product supply and reduce product importation, annual GDP
contribution of over $3.8bn, and attraction of over $7bn of foreign direct
investment into the country.
The NNPC Ltd. MOU with Indorama follows Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed
Tinubu’s commitment in India a few weeks ago, to strengthen business relations
between both countries.