UTM Offshore would award the front-end engineering and design (FEED) contract for Nigeria’s first floating LNG project on Wednesday, according to the company’s managing director and chief executive, Julius Rone.
The signing ceremony with Japan’s JGC, US-based KBR, and France’s Technip Energies would take place in London, Rone told LNG Prime late on Tuesday.
Technip Energies would work on the hull and the mooring system design while JGC would take over the topsides design.
Last year, JGC completed the pre-FEED work for the FLNG. Besides JGC, UTM also selected KBR as the owner’s engineer to review JGC’s work.
As a result of this design work, the FLNG’s capacity could be boosted by some 26 percent from 1.2 mtpa to 1.52 mtpa, Rone previously said.
ExxonMobil and NNPC would provide the feed gas to the FLNG from the Yoho crude oil field in OML 104 block while Vitol would buy the LNG supplies from the project.
FID next year?
UTM joined forces last year with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to secure up to $5 billion for the development of Nigeria’s first floating LNG producer, including about $2 billion for the project’s first phase.
Following this memorandum, UTM and Afreximbank signed a heads of terms in June this year to progress the project.
Under this deal, Afreximbank committed to funding the feasibility studies such as geotechnical studies and others prior to FID and financial close.
Earlier this year, Rone said the firm was looking to decide on the floating LNG project in the second quarter of 2023.
The CEO said on Wednesday that UTM is now planning to take the FID on the floating LNG project by the end of 2023.
(Article updated to add more details regarding the FEED work.)
