Delta State Government, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and the UTM Offshore Ltd, Tuesday, signed a Shareholders Agreement for the development of first Floating Liquefied Natural Gas, FLNG in Nigeria.
Secretary to the State Government, Dr Kingsley Emu and Solicitor General and Permanent Secretary Ministry of Justice, Mr Omamuzo Erebe signed for the Delta State Government, while the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Mele Kyari and Group Managing Director Julius Rone signed for NNPC Limited and UTM Offshore, respectively.
With the agreement Delta State Government will own eight percent share of the project, NNPC Limited 20 percent and UTM Offshore 72 percent.
Speaking at the signing ceremony at the NNPC Towers Abuja, Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State, said the UTM FLNG Project was the first of its kind to be developed by an indigenous private company in Nigeria.
Governor Oborevwori explained that the state government took 8% equity in the floating LNG project because of its conviction of the strategic importance of the project to the national economy, adding that with 40% of Nigeria’s proven gas reserves in Delta State, it was a worthy investment.
According to him, the deal marked a significant milestone in the development of the project, expressing hope that construction will begin next year.
He said: “Of particular interest to Delta State Government is the dividend that this UTM FLNG will generate, thus advancing the socio-economic development of our great state. It is expected that over 300,000 metric tonnes of LPG (cooking gas) will be produced and dedicated to the domestic market.
“This project will also help to mitigate the environmental hazards in the Niger Delta by reducing gas flaring. Of course, our women folk will also benefit from the fuel switch from kerosene and firewood to cleaner energy, thus improving their health and general wellbeing.
“Another benefit we envisage with this project is that it will create job opportunities for our youths, which is one of the four pillars of our MORE agenda”.
While commending the immediate the immediate past Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa for his foresight in investing in the venture, he commended other stakeholders “like regulators and Afreximbank for helping to arrange financing and, of course, the dedicated staff of Delta State Investment and Development Agency (DIDA) for their resourcefulness”.
In his remarks, the Group Chief Executive Officer, NNPC, Mr Mele Kyari commended the Delta State Governor for not just being a promoter of gas development in the country but for also investing in gas projects.
“We are happy to collaborate with the Delta State Government in this venture. The State Government is here in two capacities, one as a supporter of growing gas utilization in the country and also now as an investor in this necessary industry but potentially a valuable industry for all of us”, he added.
Also speaking, the Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Gas), Hon. Ekprikpe Ekpo noted that it was time for the country to begin the monitisation of its huge gas reserves for the development of the economy.
In his remarks, Group Managing Director of UTM, Mr. Julius Rone said the signing ceremony marks another significant milestone in actualizing Nigeria’s first indigenous FLNG.
Mr. Rone said he expects the Final Investment Decision (FID) on the project to be taken before the end of the first quarter of 2024. He commended the stakeholders for their support, especially the Delta State Government for investing in the project.
“I want to thank the Delta State Government for taking an equity on this laudable project which will create other sources of revenue for the state to develop their infrastructure that is highly needed and create employment for the teeming youths of Delta State”, Rone said.
Shoreline Group today announced that African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has approved a US$200 million facility in favour of Shoreline Power Company Limited and co-borrowers including Arkad S.p.A., Shoreline’s majority-owned engineering and construction platform.
Approved in June 2026, the facility was arranged and provided by Afreximbank as sole mandated lead arranger and lender. It provides bonding and working-capital capacity for Arkad’s delivery of the Hassi Bir Rekaiz project and supports Shoreline and its affiliates in developing further pipeline and infrastructure
projects in Nigeria and other permitted jurisdictions.
“This is a defining transaction for Shoreline and Arkad. We built Arkad as an African- sponsored engineering platform capable of competing at the highest level, and it is now delivering against a billion-dollar energy contract. Afreximbank’s US$200 million commitment gives the platform the financial strength to match its engineering capability and pursue further major infrastructure mandates. It demonstrates that African enterprises can assemble the capital, capability and partnerships required to compete for infrastructure at international scale.”
Hassi Bir Rekaiz Phase 2a Arkad holds 44 per cent of the approximately US$1 billion EPCCS-1 contract awarded by Groupement
Hassi Bir Rekaiz (GHBR) to an unincorporated consortium led by Egypt’s Petrojet, which holds 56 percent. EPCCS-1 covers engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning and start-up for the Phase 2a central processing facility and related infrastructure at the Hassi Bir Rekaiz field in Algeria’s Berkine
Basin.
GHBR is the joint operating entity for the licence, held by Sonatrach with 51 per cent and Thailand’s PTTEP with 49 per cent. The project includes a new crude oil processing facility with capacity of 31,500 barrels per day, facilities for associated gas and produced-water treatment, approximately 217 kilometres
of pipelines and the brownfield modifications required to integrate existing Phase 1 infrastructure.
The facilities are designed to support later expansion to 63,000 barrels per day under Phase 2b.
“This financing addresses the instruments that determine whether an EPC contractor can execute at scale: performance guarantees, advance payment guarantees and working capital through the project cycle. Hassi Bir Rekaiz is a demanding scope, combining a new central processing facility, associated treatment systems, pipelines and brownfield integration. With Petrojet, and with the support of Shoreline and Afreximbank, Arkad is focused on disciplined delivery against the project’s safety, quality and schedule requirements.”
The transaction was structured under Afreximbank’s Engineering, Procurement and Construction Initiative, which supports African engineering and construction firms with the financial instruments required to compete for and execute large infrastructure contracts. Afreximbank also supported the Arkad-Petrojet partnership through its EPC twinning work at the Intra-African Trade Fair held in Algiers
in 2025.
According to Afreximbank, the transaction is its first support for a Sub-Saharan African contractor undertaking a major infrastructure project in North Africa. For Shoreline, it demonstrates a practical model for combining African ownership and capital with established international engineering andindustrial capability.
Nigerian businesswoman and investor Aisha Achimugu has made a public appeal for the protection of her life, her family, and her business interests while alleging a sustained campaign of intimidation, media trial, and asset seizures.
Achimugu, in a statement Tuesday, said she is facing actions that she described as an affront to the rule of law and natural justice.
She then called for the respect for court orders and for an end to what she termed misleading media coverage about her person and companies.
According to Achimugu, the widow of the late Engr. Sulaiman Achimugu, former Managing Director of the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company, PPMC, she has over the last three decades built businesses in the oil and gas and other sectors, and runs the SAM Empowerment Foundation, SEF, which she said has implemented health, education, and community projects across Nigeria.
The businesswoman, however, alleged that since 2023 she has been the subject of investigations and actions by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
Narrating her ordeals, Achimugu noted that in 2023, the EFCC’s Port Harcourt zonal office froze her personal accounts, her children’s accounts, and company accounts linked to the Felak Group, based on an interim forfeiture order.
She said this was connected to a mistaken association with MBA Forex and Capital Investment.
Achimugu stated that in January 2024 she honoured an EFCC invitation with her counsel, clarified her company’s single transaction with MBA Forex, and refunded N58 million by bank draft to the EFCC recovery account.
In March 2025, the businesswoman said she received WhatsApp messages inviting her to the EFCC Port Harcourt office. Her lawyer responded in writing, proposing dates in April 2025. Despite this, she alleged a media campaign began on March 10, 2025 linking her to wrongdoing.
On March 28, 2025, the same day her company, Oceangate Oil & Gas Limited, submitted proof of $20 million payment to NUPRC for oil blocks PPL 302-DO and PPL 3007, subsequently, she claimed the EFCC declared her a “Wanted Person” for “conspiracy and money laundering.” She also alleged that EFCC operatives searched her home that day.
In April 2025, Achimugu said she filed a fundamental rights suit at the Federal High Court, Abuja. But upon returning to Nigeria on April 28, 2025 from a foreign trip, she alleged she was taken into EFCC custody, granted bail by a judge, but released five days later. She also said her international passport was collected.
She alleged further asset actions, including freezing of bank accounts, and the seizure of vehicles from her home in January 2026. She said matters relating to these actions are the subject of ongoing litigation and appeals.
Achimugu also alleged that her United States visa was revoked in April 2025, and that she encountered issues with visa processing related to her Grenadian citizenship, which she linked to media reports citing the EFCC’s declaration.
Achimugu stated that she has invested nearly $90 million in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector in the last five years and has attracted over $100 million in investments into the economy while directly employs close to 200 Nigerians.
However, she said the actions of the anti-graft agency have affected her business operations, international partnerships, and family, including her elderly parents and young children.
Achimugu then called on the National Assembly, the Judiciary, security services, and local and international human rights organizations to examine her case.
She also asked for the protection of her life and properties, respect for court orders, and an end to what she described as a “media trial”.
“I believe that justice delayed is justice denied, and I am not afraid to face the law provided due process is followed. My lawyers are pursuing all legal remedies locally and internationally,” she said.
Achimugu added that she remains committed to Nigeria and to supporting private sector growth.