The board of Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc, a leading
Nigerian indigenous oil and gas company listed on both the Nigeria Stock Exchange and London Stock Exchange, on Monday announced the signing of a Joint Venture Shareholder Agreement and Share Subscription Agreement with the Nigerian Gas Processing and Transportation Company (NGPTC), a wholly owned subsidiary of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) relating to the ANOH Gas Processing Company Limited (AGPC).
According to the deal, NGPTC will subscribe for 50% equity stake of ANOH, a company incorporated in 2017, for the purpose of processing future wet gas production from the upstream unitised gas fields at OML 53 & OML 21, operated by Shell.
A notice to the NSE by Dr. Mirian Kene Kachikwu, Seplat’s Company Secretary, said the Shareholder Agreement will govern the respective interests of both parties in the AGPC incorporated joint venture.
Other commercial agreements between NNPC and the Nigerian Gas Marketing Company (NGMC) were also executed during the signing ceremony held at NNPC headquarters in Abuja.
They include: the AGPC Shareholders Agreement between AGPC, NGPTC and Seplat; AGPC Share Subscription Agreement between AGPC, NGPTC and Seplat; Wet Gas Sales and Purchase Agreement between, NNPC, Seplat and AGPC; Gas Sale and Purchase Agreement between AGPC and Nigerian Gas Marketing Company (NGMC); and Gas Marketing Agreement between AGPC and NGMC.
These agreements, Seplat explained, “are an important precursor to the Final Investment Decision (FID) for the ANOH project which is expected in Q4 2018.”
Commenting on the signing of the Shareholder Agreement, Austin Avuru, Seplat’s Chief Executive Officer of Seplat expressed delight at having “entered into an Incorporated Joint Venture with our government partner NGPTC. The execution of the agreements today is an important step as we head towards taking FID on the ANOH project later this year.
“ANOH is one of the largest greenfield gas and condensate developments in Nigeria which will supply critical and much needed gas volumes to be internally consumed in the country into a growing domestic market,” he stressed.
He expressed confidence that AGPC would deliver the project within the next 18 months and achieve its objective of being a key gas supplier to both the domestic and export market.
Reports say the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) involves five agreements that will see the delivery of 3.4bn standard cubic feet of gas per day (bscfd) by 2020, in line with the efforts to boost gas production and infrastructure.
The project, Assa North and Ohaji South (ANOH) gas development scheme (Imo State), is one of the seven Critical Gas Development Projects (7CGDP) which is aimed at boosting gas production and infrastructure development.
AHOH, a special purpose vehicle known as ANOH Gas Processing Company (AGPC), explained Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, is being promoted by both parties to develop, build, operate and maintain the ANOH Gas Processing Plant, with an initial capacity of 300 million standard cubic feet per day in Imo State.
Represented by the Chief Operating Officer, Gas and Power, Engr. Saidu Mohammed, Baru said NNPC would do everything possible to ensure that the project was successfully delivered.
He urged the AGPC to work hard and deliver the project on schedule, within budget and to specification, stressing that it was designed as world-class gas processing plant with capacity to deliver between 3bn and 3.4bn standard cubic feet of gas daily.
“Following the execution of Heads of Terms (HoT) by the Nigerian Gas Processing and Transportation Company (NGPTC) on behalf of the NNPC, Seplat and AGPC on December 19, 2017, the Steering Committee for the AGPC project has provided the leadership and broad guidance for the development and finalisation of the various commercial agreements required to underpin the project,” Dr. Baru was quoted as saying.