Nigeria to get 300 million standard cubic feet of gas per day

• as Seplat inaugurates AGPC reconstituted Board

By Chioma Obinagwam

 Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc, a leading Nigerian indigenous oil and gas company listed on both the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) and London Stock Exchange (LSE), has announced the inauguration of the reconstituted Board of Directors of ANOH Gas Processing Company Limited (AGPC).

The inauguration took place at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Towers in Abuja on Thursday, and is a targeted at delivering 300 million standard cubic feet of gas per day to the Nigerian market.

The Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, inaugurated the reconstituted AGPC Board.

The reconstituted Board reflects the 50 per cent shareholding of the Nigerian Gas Company Limited (NGC), which is a subsidiary of the NNPC, and SEPLAT.

SEPLAT in a statement explained, “Following the Partners’ completion of their first equity funding, the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) applications were filed and approved for the change of Shareholders and Directors of AGPC in order to reflect the equal shareholding of NGC and SEPLAT.”

The members of the re-constituted Board of Directors are: Engr. Saidu A. Mohammed (NNPC Chief Operation Officer, Gas & Power); Austin Avuru (SEPLAT’s Chief Executive Officer); Babatunde Bakare (NGC’s Managing Director); Stuart Connal (Managing Director, AGPC; Bala M. Wunti (NNPC Group General Managing, Corporate Planning & Strategy); and Gert-Jan Smulders (SEPLAT’s Technical Director).

Following the inaugural ceremony, the new Board of Directors will proceed to hold its first meeting to consider and approve critical project activities.

In his address at the inauguration, the Chief Executive Office (CEO) SEPLAT,  Mr. Austin Avuru, appreciated the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) and the NNPC for the support they have given to the SEPLAT brand over the years as well as the AGPC.

“I need to register our deep sense of gratitude for the nine years we have been in partnership with the NPDC. In the last three year under the current leadership of the NNPC, we have had a relationship that is non-acrimonious. For the first time, we are doing what people will probably be doing in the future,” he said.

Avuru, who is also the vice-chairman of the AGPC, noted that in less than 24 months the partnership was formed, substantial funding had gone into the project. He added, “Half of the equity funding is already in the bank. Thanks to the GMD of the NNPC for making funding available.”

Responding, Baru said the move was in line with the Corporation’s aspiration of the Gas Master Plan, which is to increase the supply of gas to the domestic market, adding that the ANOH gas project was conceived to deliver that.

The NNPC GMD said, “We believe a private sector-driven project should deliver a mandate faster than a public-led one.”

According to Baru, finances should be provided not to only fund projects but to also acquire requisite expertise.

The Chief Operating Officer, Gas and Power, NNPC and chairman of AGPC, Saidu Mohammed, on behalf of the company’s Board of Directors, thanked the NNPC GMD for inaugurating the board. “This is a journey we have started and we will continue to grow,” he added.

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