Nigeria has earned over $50 billion as proceeds from exportation of liquefied natural gas in the last 15 years, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria LNG Limited, Mr. Babs Omotowa, has said.
Mr. Omotowa, who disclosed this at the celebration of Nigeria’s milestone 3000th LNG Export Cargo Thursday night in Abuja, explained that the huge earnings sprouted from a meagre $2.5 billion invested in the firm at its inception in 1999.
He recalled that the event of January 2014, when the Nigeria LNG Limited exported Nigeria’s 3000th cargo since the company began operations on Bonny Island 14 years ago would ever remain indelible in the life of the nation.
Amplifying the profile of the company, Mr. Omotowa said that, “ Nigeria now owns $14 billion of assets on Bony Island; the country has earned $13 billion in dividends, another $11 billion earned in feed gas sales revenue, over $10 billion expenditure in local economy on goods, services and salaries of thousands of staff employed.”
He added that “corporate income tax will exceed N220 billion per annum by far the highest in Nigeria and Sub-Sahara Africa.”
Omotowa disclosed further that, “Rivers State Government earns over N66 billion per annum from personal income taxes, Bonny Local Government Council over N88 million yearly as tenement rate, etc. Truly, the decision of NLNG’s founding fathers has indeed created wealth from a previous wasted resource.
“Who would have imagined that all these gains of over $50 billion would come to Nigeria within 15 years from a meagre $2.5 billion invested? Also importantly, the take of Nigeria from Nigeria LNG revenue is now over 70 percent, comprising of the 49 percent dividend, 30 percent CIT, and other taxes,” he said.
According to him, “this is the classic story of the mustard seed that grew into an oak, truly, our story is stranger than fiction.”
He said, “today, we celebrate the export of the 3,000th LNG cargo out of Nigeria, we are indeed proud to be among the leading LNG companies in the world that have achieved this feet. NLNG remains the single biggest private sector investment in Sub-Sahara Africa producing 22mtpe of LNG and 5mtpe of Nigeria natural gas liquid, NGLs. We have buyers across the world.
“In a space of 10 years from 1999 to 2008, Nigeria LNG Limited was recorded as the fastest growing LNG plant in the world at the time. By 2008, we accounted for 10 percent of the global LNG bossiness, although, our share of the global LNG market currently stands at 7 percent due to the entrance of new competitors with mega projects. Today, we are the forth largest LNG plant in the world.
“NLNG’s business has strong impact on key macroeconomic variables and our contribution to the GDP rose to four percent in 2008. In addition, to ameliorate the difficulties Nigerians were having with LPG, cooking gas, NLNG commenced supply of LPG to the domestic market in 2007, and by that singular intervention, brought down the price of cooking gas from N7, 000 to N3,500 per 12.5ky cylinder.
“We currently supply over 80 percent cooking gas, LPG, in Nigeria and are increasing the volumes to 250,000MTA, ie, 67 percent increase. We are determined to support the efforts of the Federal Government to get more Nigerians to switch to cooking gas rather than the continue use of fire wood and kerosene, alternatives that have environmental and health disadvantages for citicens.
He “NLNG can stay profitable and continue to deliver excellent value to the country, if we are able to play the number game of volumes in the global market. Part of the next phase of our company’s strategic response to the growing competition is the addition of a seventh train.
“When achieved, this will enable NLNG to add some eight million metric tonnes to its current production capacity, and increase annual output to 30 million metric tonnes. This is potentially capable of monetizing more of our gas, and yielding an estimated $3billion in additional revenues.
“More importantly, this will enable the creation of over 18,000 jobs during the construction phase, a deliverable that is in line with Mr President’s transformation agenda of creating jobs for the youths of the country.”
