Leading Nigerian indigenous oil and gas company listed on both the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) and London Stock Exchange (LSE), Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc, said ANOH Gas Processing Company Limited (AGPC) is primed to deliver 300m standard cubic feet of gas per day to the Nigerian market.
The company disclosed this in a statement announcing the inauguration of ANOH’s board on Thursday by the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Maikanti Baru in his Abuja office.
The reconstituted board, the statement said, reflects the 50% equity stake each by the Nigerian Gas Company Limited (NGC), is a subsidiary of the NNPC, and SEPLAT.
According to Seplat, members of the re-constituted board 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).
Speaking at the inauguration, Avuru appreciated the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) and the NNPC for their support 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 and substantial funding had gone into the project, assuring that “half of the equity funding is already in the bank.”
He appreciated the NNPC GMD “for making funding available,” following which Baru said the move was in line with the corporation’s aspiration as stated in the Gas Master Plan- to increase the supply of gas to the domestic market, adding that the ANOH gas project was conceived to deliver that.
“We believe a private sector-driven project should deliver a mandate faster that a public-led one,” Baru added.
He spoke of the need to ensure financing is provided to fund projects, as well as acquire the requisite expertise.
For Mohammed, Chief Operating Officer, Gas and Power, NNPC and chairman of AGPC, who thanked the NNPC GMD for inaugurating the board, “this is a journey we have started and we will continue to grow.”