A shipping professional and Executive Director of Seamate Maritime Integrated Services Limited, Captain Ladi Olubowale, has said that the UTM Offshore Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) Project will present Nigeria with a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform its maritime economy, strengthen indigenous shipping, and capture billions of naira in economic value that has historically flowed offshore.
Olubowale stated this in a statement titled: “Beyond Gas: Why the UTM Offshore FLNG Project Should Launch Nigeria’s Maritime Industrial Revolution,” said that
Nigeria has spoken for decades about unlocking the full value of its oil and gas resources.
“Yet one fundamental question has remained unanswered: Who captures the wealth created after the oil and gas leave our shores? This question is becoming even more important as Nigeria enters a new era of gas development under the Federal Government’s Decade of Gas Initiative.
“The UTM Offshore FLNG Project Nigeria’s first indigenous-led FLNG development is rightly celebrated as a landmark investment. It will monetise stranded gas resources, increase LNG exports, create jobs, strengthen government revenues, and reinforce Nigeria’s position in the global energy market.
“However, its greatest contribution may lie beyond gas production itself. The question before us is simple: Will Nigeria merely export LNG, or will we build an entire maritime economy around it? That decision will define whether this project becomes another successful energy investment or the catalyst for a new era of industrial development,” he pointed out.
On the missing link in Nigeria’s energy economy, he said that every offshore energy project depends on ships, saying that before the first molecule of gas is exported, vessels are already at work transporting equipment, supporting offshore construction, delivering supplies, transferring personnel, protecting offshore assets, conducting inspections, responding to emergencies, and maintaining continuous operations.
Without ships, offshore energy production stops.
According to him, despite Nigeria’s position as Africa’s leading oil and gas producer, much of this critical maritime support continues to be provided by foreign-owned fleets.
“This means that while Nigeria earns revenue from its natural resources, a significant share of the logistics, charter hire, marine services, technical management, and offshore transportation revenues leaves our economy. In economic terms, we continue to export commodities while importing capabilities. That model is no longer sustainable. The real opportunity is the value chain,” he added.
However, he said that the UTM FLNG Project should not simply be viewed as an LNG facility but it should become the anchor project for Nigeria’s maritime industrial transformation.
“Every successful maritime nation understands one principle: Natural resources create wealth only when nations own the value chain that supports them. Norway did not become a global maritime powerhouse simply because it discovered offshore oil. It deliberately built Norwegian-owned offshore service companies, engineering firms, maritime financial institutions, ship management expertise, and highly skilled seafarers”.
“Qatar did not become one of the world’s leading LNG exporters by producing gas “alone. It invested heavily in Nakilat, one of the world’s largest LNG shipping companies, ensuring that transport became an integral part of national value creation.
Singapore built one of the world’s strongest economies without significant natural resources by mastering shipping, ports, finance, and logistics. These countries understood that controlling maritime logistics is not merely about ships—it is about economic sovereignty,” he explained.
He added that Nigeria must embrace the same vision because it is very important as Nigeria possesses over 200 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves and one of Africa’s largest offshore energy industries.
“The federal government has rightly declared this the Decade of Gas. But gas alone will not transform our economy. Transformation comes from building industries around gas. The UTM FLNG Project creates precisely that opportunity.
Its development and long-term operation will require a broad range of offshore support vessels, marine logistics services, crew transfer operations, emergency response capabilities, security patrols, marine engineering, subsea support, and technical maintenance,” he said.
He warned that the UTM Offshore FLNG Project should not stand alone as an energy project, and it should become the foundation of Nigeria’s maritime industrial revolution.
“Every molecule of gas exported should generate Nigerian freight, Nigerian jobs, Nigerian financing, Nigerian ship management, Nigerian insurance, Nigerian seafarers, and Nigerian prosperity.
“The measure of our success will not be how much gas we export, but how much national wealth we retain. Nations become maritime powers not by owning cargo alone, but by owning the ships, the supply chains, the technology, and the institutions that move commerce. Nigeria now has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build that future.
“We must seize it, not simply to serve one FLNG project, but to establish a Strategic National Fleet that will carry Nigeria’s economic ambitions across Africa and the world,” he explained.
(The Sun)