From Judex Okoro, Calabar
The Cross River State government has concluded arrangement to partner UTM on Floating LNG project.
The project if inaugurated, would be Africa’s first Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) plant in Nigeria.
The project is driven by an indigenous firm and is part of efdetrs by the present administration to boos the state’s economy though Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
The state is to host the onshore operational support base of the over 1.5 million tonne, multi-billion LNG project because of its proximity to the location of the plant for the contractor Messrs JGC Holdings Corporation.
Speaking at the ceremony, which took place at the Government House, Calabar, the State Governor, Senator Prince Bassey Out, promised the his administration would collaborate to actualise the project.
The elated governor said: “I am happy that the company has chosen Cross River state as its logistics base because at some point we had many companies operating from here but for whatever reason they had to move, we want all of them back and operational again.
“Cross River state is very rich in terms of hydrocarbon with huge gas resources which we intend to fully exploit during the life span of my administration.
“Providing job opportunities to over 3, 000 unemployed in the state is such a huge achievement. If there is anything we are earnestly looking forward to now is to provide employment to our teeming youths.
“We seriously need to grow the economy. We have set a target for ourselves with machinery in motion to double our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with attendant increase in internally generated revenue in the next four years.
“So, you are not going to do only offshore, I believe that by the time our designated blocs are out, you will love to take good advantage by exploring it.”
“I am glad that you are one of the first fortunate firms to key into our business portfolio on time because the destination for business in this dispensation is definitely going to be Cross River State.
“Let me assure you that the government will give you the maximum support needed to execute the project, and in terms of security and other areas, we guarantee you this. Cross River State still remains the safest sub-national you can think of in this country.
“I am particularly happy to know that you are deploring your expertise in this direction in making sure that you capture all the flaring and wasted gas resource in this area and we will partner with you to succeed.
“What we used to worry about in my days in parliament was gas flaring. Apart from us losing money, it is also poisoning the atmosphere, which is dangerous to the ecosystem. So, I am happy that your operation is green and we welcome you wholeheartedly to our state.”
Earlier, the Managing Director, UTM (Nig) Limited, Dr. Julius Rone, in company of his Japanese and German partners, disclosed that the delegation were in the state for site assessment for the setting up of an onshore operations support base for its contractor, Messrs JGC Holdings Corporation of Japan, on the UTM Floating LNG Project.
The MD said the project is the first of its kind in Nigeria and first time such a project is being developed by an indigenous private African company, maintaining that FLNG, “which will be anchored offshore Akwa Ibom, not far from the Yoho Platform in OML 104 being operated by Exxon Mobil, when completed will produce on annual basis, 1.5 million tonnes of LNG for export, 300,000 metric tonnes of LPG for the domestic market and some quantities of condensate.”