Brass LNG.

Owned 49% by NNPC and 17% by each of ConocoPhillips, ENI and Total, the Brass LNG venture on Brass Island, Bayelsa State in the Niger Delta, is awaiting a final investment decision (FID) by end-2009. The FID has been put off repeatedly since late 2008 as the global recession hit energy markets and a world glut in LNG developed this year; it could be worse in 2010. As planned, the $8.5bn JV is to have two trains with a combined capacity of 10m t/y. The plant should also produce 2.5m t/y of LPG and some condensates. Total on Aug. 2, 2006, acquired Chevron's 17% stake in Brass LNG, 90 km west of Bonny Island. Project sanction for the first two trains took place in early 2007. Most of the LNG is intended for export to Europe and the US. The feed gas should be supplied from the partners' production, with Total accounting for a third, or about 570 MCF/d, over a period of at least 20 years.

Charles Ngoka, business director for Total Nigeria, on Feb. 26, 2009, said work on Brass LNG was still progressing. Shareholders were originally due to take the FID by end-2006, but ConocoPhillips pushed for an indefinite postponement after a surge in militant attacks in the Niger Delta. Ngoka said Brass LNG executives were still trying to determine the exact locations for the plant and related facilities (see the background in gmt7NigrGasExpAug13-07).