The Chairman, Senate Committee on Local Content, Senator Teslim Folarin, has urged well-meaning Nigerians to participate in the gas production project of the Liquefied Natural Gas Company

He said the $10bn project would expand gas production capacity by 35 per cent.

Folarin, according to a statement on Friday by his media aide, Bamidele Ajibola, stated this while playing host to the Managing Director of NLNG, Mr Tony Attah.

He said the Committee was delighted at the expansion of the nation’s gas capacity from 22MTPA to 30MTPA through the Train7 project.

He said it would be constructed by the SCD consortium, comprising of Saipem, Chiyoda and Daewoo.

Folarin added that through the project funded by foreign direct investment, the gas sector and the nation stand to witness unprecedented benefits.

He added that the NLNG should expect further invitations from the Senate because it was determined to ensure that the project complies with local content laws once the Final Investment Decision on the TRAIN 7 project was signed.

Attah explained that NLNG was owned by four shareholders including the Federal Government, represented by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, with 49 per cent stake.

He also said that Shell Gas has 25.6 per cent, Total Gas Electricite owns 15 per cent and Eni International has a 10.4 per cent stake.

He said the NLNG selected the SCD consortium for the Train 7 project after a thorough bidding process.

The SCD consortium, according to him, would collectively build the $7 bn Train7 LNG expansion plant.

Attah also said an additional $3bn worth of investment in upstream gas development will be spent to meet the expected demands of the new capacity.

He also said this investment would raise the global profile of Nigeria as the fourth largest exporter of LNG in the world.