Nigeria is seeing a surge in demand for its liquefied natural gas (LNG) as disruptions linked to the Middle East conflict reshape global energy flows, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has said.
Speaking at the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston, Olalekan Ogunleye, NNPC’s executive vice-president, said buyers are increasingly turning to Nigeria due to its strategic location and vast gas reserves.
“We are right in the middle of the market. We are 10 sailing days from Europe, close to the Atlantic Basin and close to Asia,” Ogunleye said.
“We see commercial opportunities on top of the fact that we have the most gas reserves in Africa.”
He added that demand for natural gas remains strong despite geopolitical tensions, noting that current disruptions are unlikely to slow its growth.
To take advantage of rising demand, Ogunleye said NNPC has begun discussions on adding two new LNG trains and is pursuing a 12 million metric tonnes per annum (mtpa) LNG project, alongside gas-based industrial hubs, to harness Nigeria’s over 200 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves.
Nigeria LNG (NLNG), in which NNPC is the largest shareholder, currently exports up to 22 million metric tonnes annually and is constructing a seventh production train expected to be completed in 2027.
Meanwhile, global supply pressures may intensify further. On March 19, Saad al-Kaabi, chief executive of QatarEnergy, said the company could declare force majeure on long-term LNG contracts of up to five years for supplies destined for Italy, Belgium, South Korea, and China.