The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is considering the option of raising funds from the capital market to meet its financing obligations on new projects, including the NNPC/NAOC JV Idu-Re-development, South Gas Project, North Gas Project and Central Gas Project.
The corporation’s Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru, gave this hint at the ongoing Nigeria Oil and Gas Strategic Conference and Exhibition in Abuja. The conference has as its theme, “Driving Nigeria’s Oil and Gas Industry Towards Sustained Economic Development and Growth”
He explained that funds from the capital market would also be used to develop the NNPC/TEPNG JV’s Ikike Project, NNPC/SPDC JV Southern Swamp and Associated Gas Solution Step 2 Project, among others.
Baru said: “We intend to sanction the Multibillion US Dollars Bonga South West/Aparo (BSWA) project as soon as we conclude an agreement on the Heads of Terms with SNEPCO on the various pending PSC Arbitration disputes. This will jump start the resolution of all the other PSC Arbitration Disputes.”
The NNPC boss, who put the current daily domestic gas demand at about 4,000 million standard cubic feet of gas per day (scf/d) with potential to grow to 7,500mmscfd in the next five years, projected that within the next three years, the corporation would increase natural gas availability from 1.5bscf/d to about 5billion scf/d and also generate up to 15GW of electricity by 2020.
He also spoke on the Corporation’s commitment to continue with its Seven (7) Critical Gas Development Projects (7CGDP) which, on completion, is projected to deliver about 3.5bscfd of gas to the domestic market by 2020.
Expatiating further, the industry expert confirmed that the NNPC had sanctioned the $2.8billion 614Km Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) pipeline project as a proof of it commitment to developing structured gas architecture nationwide as part of the corporation’s medium to long term priority .
Baru also explained that n the midstream, NNPC had opened discussions to resuscitating the four local refineries by utilising private capital in form of Contractor-Financing model, representing a shift in corporation’s investment model and redefining the commercial framework for midstream investment in the country.
He pointed out that within the new model, investors would be repaid from incremental production of the refineries on prior agreed terms.
While projecting that the downstream sector holds great potential for the country in the future., the NNPC boss said that the plan of the management to make the state-owned oil corporation become a net exporter of refined products by year-end 2019 was being implemented.
Baru projected that the outlook for 2018 and beyond for the corporation was to increase crude oil reserves by one billion barrels year-on-year from the current 37 billion barrels to 40 billion barrels by 2020 and increase national oil daily production to three million barrels per day.
Speaking at the conference, the Secretary General of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Dr. Mohammed Barkindo, noted that the “Declaration of Cooperation,” by 25 oil producing nations had accelerated the stabilisation of the global oil market through voluntary production adjustments of around 1.8 mb/d.
Barkindo disclosed that the 174th Meeting of the OPEC Conference and the 4th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting had reaffirmed the partners’ decision to act in the interests of producers and consumers through 100 per cent conformity level to production quotas.
