Chinese, Nigerian Firms Sign $1bn Pact To Eliminate Gas Flaring

A Chinese firm, Beijing Zhogmin Xinjunlong New Energy Technology Company Ltd., and NIGUS International, a Nigerian firm, have signed a $1 billion agreement to fund and develop gas flaring solutions for Nigeria.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the signing ceremony took place on Friday in Abuja in response to a national directive from President Bola Tinubu.

The deal is poised to help Nigeria put an end to gas flaring, ushering the nation into the world of Green Sustainable Energy Production.

During the agreement signing, HRH Malik Ado Ibrahim, the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of NIGUS, stated that the partnership with the Chinese company aimed at incorporating its new state-of-the-art technology to convert flared gas for commercial use.

This innovative technology, he mentioned, will create Gas-to-Liquid (GTL) solutions (synthetic diesel to bolster the energy mix), Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) for export, and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (cooking gas), among other applications.

NAN reported that GTL technology is a process that converts natural gas, one of the cleanest burning fossil fuels, into high-quality liquid fuels such as gasoline, jet fuel, and diesel.

“The joint venture is about NIGUS, as a renewable energy company, joining forces with the technology that allows us to bring a clean climate economy to Nigeria and create value from what we are wasting at the moment to generate lower pricing energy.

“We seem not to be contributing to the carbon footprint, we flare a lot of our gas, 90 per cent of what we produce in Nigeria is being flared, not utilising the gas.

“We are bringing to play a very modern, state-of-the-art technology by joining forces with China to create wealth and carbon neutrality and then generate lower price energy.

“The project is to demonstrate the president’s wish to utilise flared gas, this technology will put his wishes into action.

“The GTL will allow us to turn the gas into liquid, to create LNG, the paradigm shift is that we will be able to imbed the technology where it is needed rather than adding infrastructural cost,” he said.

He noted the potential benefits for Nigeria in terms of job creation, economic growth, and development through this initiative.

“If Nigeria can pioneer this technology, we can access global green funds. We anticipate that our carbon footprint and neutrality profile will enable the joint venture to access the funds made available for Nigeria by Mr. President,” he added.

Mr. Yung Ruming, the Chief Executive Officer of Beijing Zhongmin Xinjunlong New Energy Technology Company Ltd., expressed their readiness for the partnership, affirming that their technical team and equipment would be deployed to realise the project.

Ruming appreciated the Federal Government for entrusting the company with this task and emphasised the mutual benefits this project would bring to Nigeria and China, given the historical rapport between the two countries.

(NAN)