BRASS LNG: NNPC SEEKS JAPAN'S INTERVENTION ON FID

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has called for the intervention of the Japanese government to get LNG Japan to sign a deal with Brass LNG.

According to the corporation, the intervention will fast-track the Final Investment Decision on the Brass LNG project.

The Group Managing Director, NNPC, Mr. Austen Oniwon, made the call on Wednesday when the Japanese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr.Toshitsugu Uesawa, and a member of the House of Representatives of Japan and Head of the Joint Mission for Promoting Trade and Investment to Africa, Mr. Yasutoshi Nishimura, paid him a courtesy visit.

Oniwon, who said he was happy with the response from LNG Japan with regard to investment in the gas sector, said,'We want the cooperation of the Japanese government to ensure that the Brass LNG deal with LNG Japan is sealed on time for us to meet the December target for signing the FID.'

According to a statement issued on Thursday by the corporation,the NNPC boss traced the history of cooperation between the NNPC and Japanese companies to the days when the Kaduna and Port Harcourt refineries were built and called for similar cooperation in developing the gas sector.

Listing the specific areas where the corporation needed help, Oniwon urged the envoy to get Japanese companies and government to provide loans to finance gas projects and establish manufacturing companies in the country to transform Nigeria into an industrial hub from where Japan could get its products into the African market.

He also solicited the intervention of the Japanese government to ensure a direct link between the corporation and some of its major companies for the procurement of spare parts for the repair of vital units in the refineries.