The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, has said the $7 billion Train 7 project contract of the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas, NLNG, is to boost employment, generate revenue as well as reduce gas-flaring in the country.
Sylva stated this in his speech on the achievements of the Federal Government during the 22nd graduation ceremony of Petroleum Training Institute, PTI, Effurun, Delta State.
The minister represented by Gabriel Aduda, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources also said the Oil and Gas Park in Cross River State would be completed in 2022.
According to him, “This administration, in collaboration with the management of NLNG, was instrumental in the signing of the Train 7 contract. The Train 7 project is a joint venture consortium that seeks to boost Nigeria’s Liquefied Natural Gas output.
“The contract will bring about employment and development for Nigerians as 55 per cent of the engineering activities will be carried out in Nigeria, 55 per cent of all procurements will be done by competent Nigerian vendors and 100 per cent of the installations and construction of Train 7 will be executed in Nigeria.
“The $7 billion project will support the Federal Government’s drive to generate more revenue from Nigeria’s confirmed gas reserves of about 207 trillion cubic feet and this will further reduce gas flaring in the industry.
“This administration has also been supportive of the efforts to create a Nigerian oil and Gas Park at Odukpani, Cross River State. The ground breaking ceremony of the park was in 2018 and it is expected to be completed by the 4th quarter of 2022.
“The goal of the park is to create an environment for low-cost manufacturing that will produce equipment components and spare parts that will be used in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.”
“The completion of this project will benefit the national economy because it will help reduce the demand for foreign exchange for importation of equipment. It will also provide employment opportunities for graduates of the Institute.
“Other areas of success include but not limited to: coordinating with international partners to promote Nigeria’s petroleum sector, push for the establishment of an African Energy Bank, increasing the Nigerian Content Intervention Fund to $350 Million etc.
“Currently, this administration is making concerted efforts to curtail the issue of crude oil theft which has reduced the government’s revenue and foreign exchange income. Oil theft has denied the country of an estimated 700,000 barrels per day. The adverse effect of this is the drop in the production of crude oil,” he added.
House of Representatives Threatens Oil Majors With Arrest Over Alleged Tax Invasion
Amid concerns of dwindling revenue resources, the House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating the structure and accountability of the joint venture (JV) businesses and production sharing contracts (PSCS) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Limited (NNPCLtd) has accused oil companies of tax evasion.
The chairman of the committee, Abubakar Hassan Fulata, who made this known last week during the committee’s meeting with stakeholders at the National Assembly, said his committee was relying on sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended, and would direct police and other security agencies to compel the heads of organizations who had failed to make their submissions in respect of the ongoing investigation to do so.
Fulata said tax evasion by the oil companies, particularly the international oil companies (IOC), had led to the dwindling oil revenue situation in the country.
He fumed that despite several letters of invitation, some of the organizations had not submitted any document to the committee.
He added that though some of the invited organizations had submitted some documents, the committee found some gaps in those documents and invited those organisations to fill the gaps.
According to him, the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Chevron Nigeria Ltd and Shell Nigeria Exploration Nigeria Ltd were among the organizations that would appear before the committee at the National Assembly onTuesday, November 1, 2022.
The committee also gave seven days to 21 organizations to make their submissions, or risk being compelled to do so by the security agencies, in line with sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.
According to the committee, 21 organizations have not made any submission despite public notice and letters of invitation sent to them.
The organisations are: the Central Bank of Nigeria, First Exploration & Petroleum Development Company Ltd, Eroton Exploration and Production Company Ltd, Ten Oil Petroleum & Energy Ltd, Staoil Nigeria Ltd, Belema Oil Producing Ltd, Emo Exploration & Production Ltd, Sterling Oil Exploration & Production; Coinoil Petroleum Ltd, Essar Exploration & Production Ltd, Texaco Nigeria Outer Shelf Ltd, and GEC Petroleum Development Company.
Others are Millennium Oil and Gas Company Ltd, Newcross Petroleum, West Africa Exploration & Production Company Ltd, Nexen Petroleum Nigeria Ltd and Oil World Nigeria Ltd, Sahara Energy Resources Ltd, Amni International Petroleum Development Company Ltd, Enageed Resources Ltd, Addax Petroleum Exploration Nigeria Ltd, and Gas Transmission and Power Ltd.
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