Company Advances Gas Commercialization Strategy in Nigeria
SAN RAMON, Calif., April 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ChevronTexaco Corp. (NYSE: CVX) today announced that its Nigerian subsidiary has awarded the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract totaling $1.7 billion for the Escravos gas-to-liquids (EGTL) project in Nigeria.
The owners of EGTL, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), with 25 percent equity, and Chevron Nigeria Ltd (CNL), a subsidiary of ChevronTexaco with 75 percent equity, awarded the EPC contracts to Team JKS, a consortium composed of JGC Corporation of Japan, KBR and Snamprogretti.
"This milestone further demonstrates ChevronTexaco's commitment to gas-to-liquids and Nigeria," said George Kirkland, ChevronTexaco executive vice president of Upstream and Gas. "This is a significant step in ChevronTexaco's strategy to grow an integrated global gas business using GTL and liquefied natural gas technologies to commercialize our gas resources and to develop the entire gas value chain."
John Watson, president of ChevronTexaco Overseas Petroleum, added, "EGTL will help to further unlock the commercial and strategic value of Nigeria's vast natural gas resources for the benefit of the country, its people and the EGTL co-venturers. Equally, EGTL is a key component of ChevronTexaco's plans -- including the West African Gas Pipeline and the Escravos Gas Project -- to reduce gas flaring from its operations in Nigeria."
Sasol Chevron, a 50/50 global joint venture between Sasol and ChevronTexaco, will provide technical support and will be the single-point licensor for the project.
Commenting on the role of Sasol Chevron, John Gass, president of ChevronTexaco Global Gas and chairman of Sasol Chevron said, "The EGTL project in Nigeria, along with the recently announced GTL base oil project in Qatar, reinforces our leading position in the GTL business.
"Using the most advanced technology, EGTL will convert natural gas currently being flared into high-value clean transportation fuels for markets in Europe and around the world," said Gass.
The EGTL site is located approximately 60 miles (100 kilometers) southeast of Lagos and is expected to produce 34,000 barrels per day of GTL diesel, GTL naphtha and a small amount of liquefied petroleum gas. GTL contains virtually no sulfur, is very low in aromatics and offers impressive power ratings.
EGTL will combine advanced hydroprocessing technology developed by ChevronTexaco with the Slurry Phase Distillate(TM) (SPD) process owned by Sasol of South Africa, which also is providing risk-based financing for the project.
The Escravos Gas Project Phase 3 (EGP-3), consisting of onshore and offshore facilities, is expected to provide approximately 300 million standard cubic feet of natural gas per day in feedstock for the EGTL project. NNPC's equity participation in EGP-3 is 60 percent, and CNL holds 40 percent.
ChevronTexaco Corporation is one of the world's leading energy companies. With more than 47,000 employees, ChevronTexaco subsidiaries conduct business in approximately 180 countries around the world, producing and transporting crude oil and natural gas, and refining, marketing and distributing fuels and other energy products. ChevronTexaco is based in San Ramon, Calif. More information on ChevronTexaco is available at www.chevrontexaco.com.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT RELEVANT TO FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSE OF "SAFE HARBOR" PROVISIONS OF THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995. Some of the items discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements about the Escarvos gas-to-liquids project in Nigeria. The statements are based upon management's current expectations, estimates and projections; are not guarantees of future performance; and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond the company's control and are difficult to predict. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are the potential disruption or interruption of project activities due to war, accidents, political events, civil unrest or severe weather; inability or failure of the company's joint-venture partners to fund their share of project expenditures; and general economic and political conditions. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of the press release. Unless legally required, ChevronTexaco undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
SOURCE ChevronTexaco Corp.
04/08/2005