The Federal Government earned $3.102 billion through the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for its 49 per cent shareholding in the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) between 2015 and 2018.
Analysis of the company’s financials contained in its 2019 Facts and Figures 2019 publication shows that the government earned the amount out of a total of $5.453bn dividend paid to shareholders within the period.
The dividend earnings in the first four years under President Muhammadu Buhari was $751.2m higher than the $2.351bn earned by other shareholders – the International Oil Companies (IOCs) made up of Shell, Total and Eni for their 51 per cent stake in the company.
The government’s dividend earnings represented 56.8 per cent of the total dividends paid between 2015 and 2018.
NLNG was incorporated as a limited liability company on May 17, 1989, to harness Nigeria’s vast natural gas resources and produce Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs) for export.
The company is owned by four shareholders: the Federal Government of Nigeria, represented by NNPC (49 per cent); Shell (25.6 per cent); Total Gaz Electricite Holdings France (15 per cent) and Eni (10.4 per cent).
NLNG’s Six Train Complex in Bonny, Rivers State, is the biggest gas consumer and exporter in Nigeria with its daily consumption of almost 3.5 billion cubic feet of gas per day (bcf/d), equivalent to more than the total daily consumption of industrialised countries like Netherlands and Australia.
A breakdown of the dividend earnings showed that the Federal Government pocketed $904.498m in 2018 compared to $798.140m in 2017. It earned $356.126m in 2016 compared to $1.043bn in 2015.
Overall, the data showed that the Federal Government has so far earned $17.407bn as dividend from the company in the last 15 years; beginning from 2004.
On the other hand, dividend earned by the IOCs in the last 15 years amounted to $18.269bn.
In the last four years under the current administration, the IOCs got $967.567 in 2018 compared to $853.793m in 2017; $380.958m in 2016 and 1.116bn in 2015.
