Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) will supply about one billion standard cubic feet of gas to Dangote Fertiliser and Petrochemical Plant in Lekki, Lagos State over the next 10 years.

The deal, with a Final Investment Decision already taken, is coming in partnership with Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, TotalEnergies EP Nigeria Limited, and Nigerian Agip Oil Company.

The gas is expected to come from Oil Mining Licence 35, which is a large onshore block within the NNPCL/Shell Joint Venture (JV) located in the southern swamps of the western delta.

Managing Director of SPDC, Osagie Okunbor, in a release said the FID remained a significant step in supporting the Nigerian government’s ‘Decade of Gas’ ambition.

Dangote Fertiliser plant, a $2.5 billion complex, regarded as the largest granulated urea fertiliser complex in Africa, has a yearly production capacity of 3 million metric tonnes.

With dwindling oil production, the pact between Shell and Dangote is coming amidst gas supply shortages in the country.

According to Okunbor the investment decision is a critical step in pursuing the development of the gas-rich Iseni field, which is part of the Okpokunou Cluster in OML 35.

Okunbor said SPDC and its joint venture partners remained committed to Nigeria’s ‘Decade of Gas’ ambition and, particularly, the domestic gas agenda.

According to Okunbor, increasing the delivery of natural gas to the domestic market is key to accelerated industrialization and economic development of Nigeria.

He disclosed that the FID signals a positive step towards the construction of the required infrastructure for the project that is expected to create jobs through direct and indirect employment.