The potential for an LNG project in southern Nigeria was first conceived in 1969, but it was not until the 1980s that Philips Petroleum developed proposals for an LNG project based at Bonny Island. The proposed plant site and residential area were cleared in the early 1980s. The project was not pursued further at this time.

 

The Nigeria LNG project was established in March 1985 with the formation of an LNG Working Committee, involving the Federal Government of Nigeria, Shell, Elf (now TotalFinaELF) and Agip who signed the framework agreement to exploit the substantial gas reserves in Nigeria. The company Nigeria LNG Ltd. was incorporated under Nigerian Law in September 1989. The company shareholding comprises Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) 49%, Shell Gas B.V (Shell) 25.6%, TotalFinaELF Limited (Elf) 15.0% and Agip International N.A.N.V (Agip) 10.4% and Nigeria LNG Limited More general information about the Company, Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd (NLNG), and the project can be found on the following website: http://www.nigerialng.com/
 

The plant site and residential area on Bonny Island were allocated to the project.. The subsequent on-site activities involved the relocation of Finima village by the authorities and a purpose-built new town was provided. Relocation to New Finima town took place in 1991, after which the site was levelled and covered with hydraulic fill to raise the site to the correct levels for construction.

 

The NLNG Base project comprised the construction of the original water-cooled LNG complex with two trains and a Gas Transmission System (GTS) of pipelines to transport natural gas from the gas fields in the Niger Delta to the plant. The first train was successfully taken into operation in September 1999 and the second in February 2000. The original Base project envisaged a phased expansion to the plant through the staged addition of further process trains. The first step in this phased expansion was the addition of a third train (the NLNG Expansion project), which includes facilities to produce Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG). This would create the capability to process oil-associated gas (AG), which had to be flared off in the past. Construction of the third train Expansion project commenced in 1999 and is due to be commissioned by the 4th quarter of 2002. This expansion will result in an increase in production capacity as well as an improvement in the efficiency in the exploitation of the Nigerian gas reserves with overall reductions of greenhouse gas emissions. The current project, i.e. the NLNGPlus project, represents the further expansion phase in the development of the LNG plant and shall consist of two additional air-cooled (the 4th and 5th) liquefaction trains, bringing the total number to five process trains.

 

The Nigeria LNG plant is located on the western coast of Bonny Island, approximately 40 km south of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. The plant site is situated between the Bonny Crude Oil Terminal (BCOT) - operated by the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd. - and the Mobil/NNPC Oso Condensate Recovery plant. In addition to the LNG complex itself, there is a permanent residential area, providing accommodation for the plant's workforce situated approximately 3 km away on the southern coast of Bonny Island.
 
A series of Environmental studies were undertaken for the Base project, culminating in the preparation of Baseline reports and Environmental Impact Assessments for both the LNG plant and the Gas Transmission System (GTS) in 1995. Subsequently, a section of the GTS was re-routed and further baseline and impact assessments were prepared for the GTS revised route. The project received the appropriate environmental permits from the Nigerian

 

Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA). Construction of the GTS was completed in 1998, and the LNG plant was completed in 1999. Additional Baseline and Impact Assessments were prepared for the 3rd train Expansion project, and submitted to the Nigerian authorities. The relevant permit was granted by the Federal Ministry of Environment (FMEnv), into which FEPA had been merged.

 

For the NLNGPlus project, an environmental impact assessment was carried out in parallel with the development of the project. This assessment was conducted in accordance with the Federal Government of Nigeria legislation [EIA Decree No. 86 of December 1992 and the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA) 1995 Sectoral Guidelines for Oil and Gas Industry Projects], internationally accepted (including World Bank) guidelines for environmental assessment and guidelines issued by NLNG's shareholders.

 

The current Impact Assessment is reported in two separate parts, a Baseline Report (BR) and an Impact Assessment (IA). The BR contains a description of the existing natural and social environment and an assessment of environmental and social sensitivities. This report deals with the environmental, social and health implications of the proposed NLNGPlus project (the impact assessment) and the way Nigeria LNG will deal with the consequences. It contains:

- A description of the proposed activities – the Project - in chapter 2
- A summary of the present environmental, social and health characteristics of the project environment, i.e. a summary of the Baseline Report - in Chapter 3
- A description of the potential effects of the proposed activities on the environmental, social and health sensitivities – in Chapter 4
- Mitigation measures which will be implemented by Nigeria LNG - in Chapter 5
- A description of how these mitigation measures will be implemented as part of NLNG's management systems – in Chapter 6
- An elucidation of the Stakeholder consultation which was an integral part of the impact assessment -in Chapter 7