BG Confirms In Talks On $6B Nigerian LNG Terminal
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
January 13, 2005 8:17 a.m.
LONDON -- BG Group PLC (BRG) Thursday confirmed that it is in negotiations that could see the U.K. integrated natural gas company becoming a partner in a planned $6 billion gas liquefaction plant in Nigeria.
"We are investigating possible opportunities in Nigeria," said company spokesman Jonathan Miller. "It's early days, discussions are at preliminary stage."
Miller's confirmation follows a Nigerian news report Thursday, which said state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Co. (NNP.YY), ChevronTexaco (CVX) and BG will establish a $6 billion plant in western Nigeria that will convert raw gas into a super-cooled liquefied form enabling easy export.
Production would begin in 2008, the report in Punch said quoting NNPC's chief executive.
BG is major global player in the liquefied natural gas business, with the bulk of its exposure in the Atlantic Basin - countries that border the Atlantic Ocean.
Taking a stake in a new liquefaction plant in Nigeria would dramatically increase the company's involvement in the country.
In October 2003, the U.K.'s third-biggest gas producer signed a contract to buy 2.5 million metric tons of LNG over 20 years from a liquefaction plant at Bonny Island, Nigeria. Shipments are expected to start later this year or possibly in early 2006.
BG is in partnership to build a regasification terminal - a plant that converts liquefied gas back into its gaseous form - at Milford Haven, Wales by late 2007. It is also about to begin construction of another regas terminal at Brindisi, in southern Italy, which is scheduled to be operational in 2008.
The company's major terminal for the offtake of LNG is Lake Charles in Louisiana, which is one of the biggest conduits for imported gas into the U.S.
Around 1315 GMT, BG's shares were up 2.3% at 359.5 pence, an advance analysts credited primarily to a recommendation upgrade from Swiss investment bank UBS Thursday.
Company Web site: bg-group.co.uk |
