By Obas Esiedesa

The shareholders of Brass Fertilizer and Petrochemical Company Limited have taken the Final Investment Decision, FID, for the construction of first ever methanol plant in Nigeria at the cost of $3.6 billion.

The plant, an integrated methanol and gas project in Odioma, Brass Island, Bayelsa State, which is scheduled to come into operation in 2024, is expected to produce 10,000tons of methanol daily.

Nigeria currently imports all its methanol needs despite the abundance of gas resources in the country.

The project is owned by DSV Engineering Limited, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, and Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB.

It will be financed by 70 percent debt and 30 percent equity.

Speaking at the FID announcement event in Abuja, yesterday, the Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva disclosed that 30,000 jobs will be created during construction and 6,000 jobs when the plant is fully operational.

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Sylva who described the FID as historical, said when operational, the plant would have major impact on the economy of the country, as it would end the 100 percent import of methanol used in the country.

“In July 2020, President Muhammadu Buhari who also doubles at the Minister of Petroleum approved the development of the Brass Gas Hub with the sole aim of aggregating for the purpose of monetizing all stranded gas in the Brass area which amounts to over 14 trillion cubic feet of gas into the processing facilities to be built in the hub.

“Today, we are witnessing the announcement of the final investment decision of the phase 1 of the Brass Gas Hub by the promoters of this laudable project. The project is expected to have very significant economic and developmental impact on the country”, he added.

Also speaking, the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari pointed out that FID on the project was the third most significant FID in the country in the  past five years despite the challenging climate in the oil and gas industry.

Kyari explained that “the very fact that we are able to take FID today on a project of this scale and magnitude with huge potential in the future is a testimony that the commitments of the Federal Government of Nigeria to monetize and deepen gas utilization in our country, to increase domestic gas utilization and of course ultimately creating value to the 200 million Nigerians is not in vain”.

On his part, the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Engr. Simbi Wabote observed that growing Nigerian content in the oil and gas industry requires investments into new projects.

He said the plant when operational would place Nigeria among top ten methanol producers in the world.

“A development of this magnitude, what it does, from our experience in the industry is that it opens up the economy and the local community for wider opportunities across all economic sectors”, he stated.

The event saw the signing of addendum to the shareholders’ agreement that brought NCDMB into the project.

Vanguard News Nigeria