Shell Announces FID on Nigerian Gas Project
Anglo-Dutch major Shell has taken the final investment decision on the Assa North gas project in Imo, a state in the Niger Delta, it said December 23. The project will produce at its peak 300mn ft3/day, mainly for the domestic market. Its Nigerian subsidiary which made the announcement, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), did not put a figure on the investment, but did say that it would be putting more emphasis on gas and less on oil production in the country.
SPDC said the project would play a key role in the government's plans to develop the gas market to meet industrial demand and promote access to electricity for all. It is mainly the first of seven major government gas projects that are set to bring a total of 3.4bn ft3/day on line by 2020.
Production will be processed by the Imo River Gas Processing Plant. The gas will then be transported by the Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben pipeline network to deliver about 43mn ft3/day to the 140-MW integrated generation project led by Geometric Power to be built in Abia.
SPDC said December 3 it would supply gas to the project, which oil minister Ibe Kachikwu described as a catalyst for economic growth in the state and the southeast of the country.
SPDC operates the project in a JV agreement in which it has 30%; the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has 55%; French major Total has 10%; and Italian Eni 5%.