The Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) has described President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s approval of a 15-year gas supply framework for UTM Offshore Limited as a potentially transformative step towards unlocking the economic value of the Niger Delta’s vast gas resources.
PANDEF National Chairman, Ambassador Godknows Igali, said the approval would give fresh momentum to UTM Offshore’s plans to build Nigeria’s first Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) facility offshore Akwa Ibom State.
In a letter of appreciation to President Tinubu dated August 6, Igali said the project could become a major catalyst for industrialisation, not only in Akwa Ibom but across the Niger Delta and the wider Nigerian economy.
Rather than exporting raw resources with limited local value, PANDEF said the project presents an opportunity to deepen indigenous participation in the gas value chain and turn the region’s abundant gas reserves into jobs, investment and industrial activity.
Igali described the multi-billion-dollar project as part of an emerging shift towards gas-based development driven by Nigerian companies, citing UTM Offshore, Seplat Energy and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited among key indigenous players in the sector.
He said the project’s significance extends beyond its financial value, particularly because it is being championed by UTM Offshore founder, Dr Julius Rone, an entrepreneur from the Niger Delta.
According to him, the investment could inspire young Nigerians and entrepreneurs in the region to move beyond resource dependence and participate directly in building businesses around the country’s natural resources.
PANDEF also projected significant employment and business opportunities during the construction phase, saying the project could stimulate a chain of economic activities across communities in the region.
The forum expressed hope that increased gas utilisation would eventually translate into greater availability of gas for households and industries, helping to ease pressure from rising energy costs.
Igali further noted that expanding the commercial use of Nigeria’s gas resources could strengthen efforts to tackle gas flaring, one of the longstanding environmental challenges confronting oil-producing communities in the Niger Delta.
PANDEF urged the Federal Government to maintain the necessary institutional and regulatory support for the project and ensure that the promoters are able to execute it within the stated timeline.
The forum also pledged to work with communities and stakeholders in Akwa Ibom and across the Niger Delta to create a peaceful and supportive environment for the project.
For PANDEF, the significance of the approval goes beyond the construction of a new LNG facility.
It is an opportunity to turn the Niger Delta from a region defined largely by the extraction of resources into one increasingly defined by processing, investment, industrialisation and indigenous ownership of the energy value chain.