Julius Rone has added another milestone to a career already filled with industry firsts. The Nigerian energy entrepreneur has secured one of the final pieces needed to move Nigeria’s first indigenous floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) project from years of planning to construction.
Rone is the founder of UTM Offshore and the promoter of UTM FLNG. He is widely known in the energy industry as the “King of Gas” after spending years championing large-scale gas projects led by indigenous Nigerian companies.
His latest breakthrough came this week when UTM FLNG signed a 15-year agreement to secure feed gas for the floating facility. Under the arrangement, the joint venture between NNPC Limited and Seplat Energy Producing Nigeria Unlimited will supply 200 million standard cubic feet of gas every day from the Yoho Field offshore Akwa Ibom State.
The agreement is significant because gas supply is one of the biggest conditions lenders demand before financing an LNG project. With that hurdle cleared, UTM FLNG now expects to reach its final investment decision later this year, bringing the long-delayed project much closer to construction.
Once completed, the offshore plant will produce liquefied natural gas for export and about 300,000 tonnes of cooking gas annually for the domestic market. The project is also expected to create thousands of jobs while helping Nigeria reduce its dependence on imported LPG.
The latest deal adds to a growing list of achievements for Rone. His company previously secured Nigeria’s first FLNG licence issued to an independent local operator and assembled billions of dollars in financing for the project. Those milestones have helped establish UTM FLNG as one of the country’s most ambitious indigenous energy ventures.
If the final investment decision goes ahead as planned, Rone will once again have turned an industry first into reality, strengthening his reputation as one of the businessmen reshaping Nigeria’s gas sector.