NNPC partners to build Nigeria’s first methanol processing plant

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corp (NNPC) on Friday signed a final investment decision to build Nigeria’s first methanol-processing plant.

The plant, which will be located in Brass in Bayelsa State, will be a boost for Nigeria’s effort to grow its domestic gas production.

It will be jointly owned by NNPC, the Nigerian Local Content Management Board and indigenous engineering company DVS Engineering Limited.

Oil giant, Shell, will provide gas feedstock for the plant.

The Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, said the plant, which is expected to be completed in 2024, will create 30,000 direct and indirect jobs during construction and about 5,000 jobs during operation.

Mr Sylva said the $3 billion plant will process about 14 tcf of gas from oil fields scattered around the Niger Delta’s Brass area.

It is the latest effort to harness gas that had previously been flared.

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In December, the government also launched a gas processing plant to be fed by previously flared gas from oil fields owned by the NNPC, aimed at producing LPG and CNG for distribution across the country.

Nigeria currently imports 100 per cent of the methanol it uses, according to the minister.

NNPC has estimated that domestic demand for natural gas will rise from current levels of 1.5 bcf per day to 7.4 bcf per day by 2027