Sam Ikeotuonye 30 March 2016, Sweetcrude, Abuja – Managing Director of Nigeria LNG Limited, NLNG, Mr. Babs Omotowa, says the rapid oil price decline should not deter strategic multi-billion dollar investments in oil and gas projects in Nigeria and Africa, maintaining that there could be no better time for such investments.
Citing the example of the NLNG, he said final investment decision for the project was taken on an oil price level of $20.
He said: “It is on record for my company, NLNG, that final investment decision was taken on an oil price level of $20 and the cost of steel is now at the same level it was 13 years ago when Train 3 FID was taken.
“The same applies to the cost of iron. Indeed, with the cyclic movement of oil prices, there is no better time to invest in oil and gas projects as construction periods take the best part of 4-5 years and it is the forecast oil price during production phase that goes into the economics, but the lower prices for input materials and lower construction costs now means that now is the better time to attract needed foreign and local investments and build the oil and gas projects that will enable us solve Africa’s energy crisis and bring Africa from darkness to light”.
Omotowa, in a keynote address at the recent sixth African Petroleum Producers Association Conference and Exhibition in Abuja, said Africa had huge human and natural resources which have remained unutilised.