Nigeria’s NNPC, Norway’s Golar sign MoU on floating gas plant

Nigeria’s state oil firm has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Golar LNG of Norway to build a floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in the country, the company said late on Wednesday.

Africa’s biggest oil producer, Nigeria, holds some of the world’s biggest gas reserves and is seeking investment to boost its domestic supplies and exports.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPC) said on Twitter that the MoU was signed by NNPC chief executive Mele Kyari and Golar CEO Karl Fredrik Staubo in the federal capital, Abuja.

The company did not provide further details and did not respond to requests for comment.

Golar has in the past indicated plans to set up a power project in Nigeria that could use one of its vessels to import LNG.

Nigeria also recently signed an MoU with Algeria and the Niger Republic and the ongoing construction of the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline, a 614km (381.5 miles) long natural gas pipeline beginning in northern Nigeria.

There is no official word on when the pipeline, first mooted in the 1970s, will be completed but it is slated to run through northern Nigeria into Niger and Algeria, connecting to Europe eventually.