Shell expands domestic gas distribution in Nigeria
Jun 06, 2019
Shell Nigeria Gas (SNG), the country’s first and wholly-owned subsidiary of an international oil company involved in domestic gas distribution in Nigeria, increased its gas distribution capacity by over 150% following the safe completion of its second gas train, the Agbara-Ota Capacity Increase Project.
The world class facility enables SNG and its partners to achieve regular gas supply to subscribed industries in Ogun State while efforts are ongoing to reach more states.
Managing Director, SNG, Ed Ubong, said, “Apart from increasing the distribution capacity in existing states where it operates, SNG is maturing opportunities to expand its gas distribution network to new states. On completion of its expansion projects, over 1,000 megawatts equivalent of energy will be directly supplied to various industrial parks and manufacturing companies in Nigeria.”
Ubong spoke with journalists at the recent media launch of the 2019 edition of the Shell in Nigeria Briefing Notes, an annual publication detailing the activities of the business interests of the global energy giant in Nigeria covering Shell Nigeria Gas, The Shell Petroleum Development Company, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company and the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Company.
SNG completed the first phase of its pipeline expansion in Abia State, connecting manufacturing industries in the Osisioma area directly to pipeline gas. It will also deliver pipeline gas to the IPP consortium that provides electricity to the popular Ariaria market in Abia State – one of the largest open stall markets in West Africa, with over 37,000 shops. The 1st Phase of the Ariaria IPP project commissioned by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019 currently provides electricity to over 4,000 shops.
Ubong said, “Shell as a leading energy company is committed to supporting the Federal government’s aspiration to grow the domestic gas market, making domestic infrastructure investments under the right commercial conditions and continuing to birth domestic gas projects that will be major game-changers in Nigeria’s quest for cleaner energy sufficiency, industrialisation and economic growth.
SNG currently supplies natural gas to over 100 industrial and commercial customers, mostly in Ogun, Abia, and Rivers States. This drives industrialisation, providing employment for the skilled and unskilled local population in addition to directly improving internally generated revenues in these states, he said.
In 2017, SNG entered into an agreement with the Rivers State Government for the distribution of gas to industries in the Greater Port Harcourt area and its environs. In 2018, it explored opportunities to distribute gas to the Lagos State Government as part of the embedded power ‘Lights Up Lagos’ initiative. Efforts are on-going through partnerships to develop opportunities for natural gas distribution to wholesale and retail customers in Victoria Island, Ikoyi, Lekki and Epe areas of Lagos area.
He said, “This year, in collaboration with the Nigerian Content Development & Management Board and the Bayelsa State Government, SNG has signed commercial agreements with customers to supply gas to industrial clusters and parks in Bayelsa State, close to the SPDC JV Gbaran Ubie world class gas facility. Agreements have also been signed for offtake of the Assa North gas project in Imo State”.
SNG has implemented various social and community development projects covering education, community health, road safety and livelihood in areas of its operations, donating and renovating schools, providing information communications technology centres, equipping science laboratories and launching Road Safety Education and Awareness campaigns.
With a reputation for safety, credibility and reliability, SNG has maintained a 14-year streak of successful ISO 14001 certification and recently achieved 10 years of operating without any lost time injuries.
Bamidele Odugbesan
Media Relations Manager
June 6, 2019
Softphone: +234 807 022 8045
Cautionary note
The companies in which Royal Dutch Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are separate entities. In this announcement “Shell”, “Shell group” and “Royal Dutch Shell” are sometimes used for convenience where references are made to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the words “we”, “us” and “our” are also used to refer to subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. These expressions are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular company or companies. ‘‘Subsidiaries’’, “Shell subsidiaries” and “Shell companies” as used in this announcement refer to companies over which Royal Dutch Shell plc either directly or indirectly has control. Companies over which Shell has joint control are generally referred to “joint ventures” and companies over which Shell has significant influence but neither control nor joint control are referred to as “associates”. In this announcement, joint ventures and associates may also be referred to as “equity-accounted investments”. The term “Shell interest” is used for convenience to indicate the direct and/or indirect ownership interest held by Shell in a venture, partnership or company, after exclusion of all third-party interest.
This announcement contains forward-looking statements concerning the financial condition, results of operations and businesses of Royal Dutch Shell. All statements other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements of future expectations that are based on management’s current expectations and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements concerning the potential exposure of Royal Dutch Shell to market risks and statements expressing management’s expectations, beliefs, estimates, forecasts, projections and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as ‘‘anticipate’’, ‘‘believe’’, ‘‘could’’, ‘‘estimate’’, ‘‘expect’’, ‘‘goals’’, ‘‘intend’’, ‘‘may’’, ‘‘objectives’’, ‘‘outlook’’, ‘‘plan’’, ‘‘probably’’, ‘‘project’’, ‘‘risks’’, “schedule”, ‘‘seek’’, ‘‘should’’, ‘‘target’’, ‘‘will’’ and similar terms and phrases. There are a number of factors that could affect the future operations of Royal Dutch Shell and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements included in this announcement, including (without limitation): (a) price fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas; (b) changes in demand for Shell’s products; (c) currency fluctuations; (d) drilling and production results; (e) reserves estimates; (f) loss of market share and industry competition; (g) environmental and physical risks; (h) risks associated with the identification of suitable potential acquisition properties and targets, and successful negotiation and completion of such transactions; (i) the risk of doing business in developing countries and countries subject to international sanctions; (j) legislative, fiscal and regulatory developments including regulatory measures addressing climate change; (k) economic and financial market conditions in various countries and regions; (l) political risks, including the risks of expropriation and renegotiation of the terms of contracts with governmental entities, delays or advancements in the approval of projects and delays in the reimbursement for shared costs; and (m) changes in trading conditions. All forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional risk factors that may affect future results are contained in Royal Dutch Shell’s 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2018 (available at www.shell.com/investor and www.sec.gov). These risk factors also expressly qualify all forward-looking statements contained in this announcement and should be considered by the reader. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this announcement, June 6, 2019. Neither Royal Dutch Shell plc nor any of its subsidiaries undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or other information. In light of these risks, results could differ materially from those stated, implied or inferred from the forward-looking statements contained in this announcement.
We may have used certain terms, such as resources, in this announcement that United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) strictly prohibits us from including in our filings with the SEC. U.S. Investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 20-F, File No 1-32575, available on the SEC website www.sec.gov. You can also obtain these forms from the SEC by calling 1-800-SEC-0330.