The $3.3 billion Brass Fertiliser & Petrochemical Company Ltd. methanol manufacturing project and the Federal Government have entered into an agreement for petrol sales to be started by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.

Nine years after the project’s first announcement, the gas sales-and-purchase deal was inked on Friday in Abuja with Shell, TotalEnergies, and Agip.

Ekperikpe Ekpo, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, spoke during the signing ceremony at the Ministry’s headquarters, describing it as “a significant milestone in ongoing efforts to monetarily support Nigeria’s vast gas reserves.”

According to him, the deal marks a critical turning point in the attempts to quickly industrialise and expand the economy by utilising the plentiful natural gas resources.

The minister said, “I urge all parties to continue in the same steadfastness that has enabled us to surmount all previous hurdles. This signing ceremony is a significant milestone in the development of the US$3.3 billion Brass Methanol Project. It is one more step in the journey to making the project a reality.”

“To bring in much-needed Foreign Direct Investment and create thousands of jobs for our teeming population while changing the face and fortunes of the host state and community for good,” Ekpo continued. This is another expectation for the project.

By reaching a financial close and starting the project’s actual construction as soon as possible, he also urged all the parties to maintain the tenacity with which they surmounted the obstacles to make the project signing a reality.

After the project is finished, it is anticipated that exports of petrochemicals, fertilisers, and other gas-based goods will bring in more than $1.5 billion a year.

The project will increase exports while reducing fertiliser imports by 30%, saving Nigeria almost $200 million in foreign exchange each year and adding thousands of jobs in the process.

Brass and its partners will be able to move forward with the $3.3 billion project’s construction thanks to the agreement.

The project, which is situated on Brass Island in southern Bayelsa state, is anticipated to receive an estimated 270 million standard cubic feet of gas per day from NNPCL and its partners.

During the event, Ambassador Nicholas Ella, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources, stated that the $3.5 billion Brass Fertiliser and Petrochemical Project is expected to provide over $1.5 billion in revenue each year from the export of gas-based goods, fertilisers, and petrochemicals.

He stated that the deal represents a significant accomplishment within the framework of the Decade of Gas project, which was started by the administration of President Bola Tinubu and intends to establish gas as the mainstay of Nigeria’s industrialisation and energy security.

According to him, it is expected to boost Nigeria’s GDP by about $600 million yearly and have a larger economic impact of up to $2 billion because of the expansion it will encourage in allied businesses.

Additionally, the initiative will greatly improve the livelihoods of many Nigerians, especially in the Niger Delta region, by creating approximately 5,000 direct jobs and 35,000 indirect ones.

According to the Permanent Secretary, the project is in line with Nigeria’s pledge to use all of its gas resources for sustainable development and to achieve zero routine flaring by 2030. It also advances the objectives of the National Gas Policy.

Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, the Executive Vice President of Upstream NNPC, stated that the arrangement will advance one of the essential components needed to build a 10,000 methanol factory in Nigeria.