State-controlled Nigerian National Petroleum Co said it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Tor Olav Troim-controlled Golar LNG for the installation of a floating LNG (FLNG) production unit.
NNPC group chief executive Mallam Mele Kyari shook hands on the deal with his Golar counterpart Karl Fredrik Staubo at a ceremony in Abuja last week.
The project aims to increase Nigeria’s domestic gas utilisation and enhance its gas exports, NNPC said on Twitter.
But no further details of the project have been given.
Golar said in February that it had secured a 2025 delivery slot at an unnamed shipyard for its planned conversion of an LNG carrier to an FLNG unit.
The company also said it had paid out a $5m deposit of a $77.5m purchase price to secure a 19-year-old, Japanese-built, Moss-type LNG carrier for the job. It later emerged this is TMS Cardiff Gas’ 149,172-cbm Fuji LNG (built 2004).
Staubo said the company has currently committed to $320m of long-lead items for the job and has confirmed delivery within 2025.
Golar plans to build this next FLNG unit by building a mid-section housing the liquefaction plant in a yard, cutting the existing LNG carrier in two and fixing the bow and stern to either end of the newbuild element.
The company has said capital expenditure for the conversion would be between $1.8bn and $2bn.
Staubo said at the time that it is “actively working” on several chartering opportunities for the project, including an integrated development together with an upstream partner. But it is unclear if this is the NNPC project.
Golar, which operates the FLNG unit Hilli off Cameroon, is in the process of converting its LNG carrier Gimi into an FLNG unit in Singapore into an FLNG unit that will serve energy major BP’s Greater Tortue Ahmeyim for Mauritania and Senegal.
The unit is due to leave the yard at the end of June and be onsite ready for start-up in the third quarter.
