Governor Bassey Edet Otu of Cross River State, south south Nigeria has been quoted to have said that he was happy that an indigenous firm known as UTM Floating LNG own by Dr. Julius Rone was in the state to launch Africa’s first Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) plant in Nigeria.
Emmanuel Ogbeche, the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary in a statement said If there is anything the present administration is earnestly looking forward to, is to provide employment to the teeming youths.
He said as part of its drive for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) the Government is partnering with the contractor Messrs JGC Holdings Corporationt Provide job opportunities to over 3, 000 unemployed in the State.
“Cross River State is very rich in terms of hydrocarbon with huge gas resources. The government intends to fully exploit during the life span of my administration,” Otu said.
Ogbeche, said the governor went on to say that his administration have set a target for themselves with machinery in motion to double their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with an attendant increase in internally generated revenue in the next four years.
As the State is set to host the onshore operational support base of the over 1.5 million tonnes, multi-billion LNG project because of its proximity to the location of the plant,“Let me assure you that the government will give you the maximum support needed to execute the project,” he continued.
In terms of security and other areas, he said “Cross River State still remains the safest subnational you can think of in this country.”
For the contractor Messrs JGC Holdings Corporation, the governor in the statement said he was building a formidable economy that it was fortunate to be one of the pioneers with enormous benefits.
“We seriously need to grow the economy. You are not going to do only offshore. I believe that by the time our designated blocs are out, you will love to take good advantage by exploring it,” he said.
While assuring the company of their support, the governor said, “I am glad that you are one of the first fortunate firms to key into our business portfolio on time because the destination for business in this dispensation is definitely going to be Cross River State.”
On his part, the Managing Director of UTM (Nig) Limited, Dr. Julius Rone, in the company of his Japanese and German partners, said they were in the State for site assessment for the setting up of an onshore operations support base for its contractor, Messrs JGC Holdings Corporation of Japan, on the UTM Floating LNG Project.
The MD, went on to say that “the project is the first of its kind in Nigeria,” he said this was the first time such a project is being developed by an indigenous private African company.
According to him, the FLNG will be anchored offshore Akwa Ibom, which is not far from the Yoho Platform in OML 104 operated by Exxon Mobil.
He said when completed will produce on an annual basis, 1.5 million tonnes of LNG for export, 300,000 metric tonnes of LPG for the domestic market and some quantities of condensate.