Concerns as NLNG Outage Extends, Gas Supplies Fall 80%

•May raise spot prices in Europe, Asia

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

Natural gas supply to Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) has fallen 80 per cent to one-fifth of the massive plant’s needs, according to people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg news reported yesterday.

Vandalism and sabotage have curtailed operations at the plant and curbed exports of liquefied natural gas, or LNG. Only two of the facility’s six processing units are currently functional, and three gas pipelines are down, Chief Executive Officer, Philip Mshelbila, said last week.

A spokesperson for Nigeria LNG did not immediately respond for comment on the reduction in gas supply, the report said.

Declining output from Nigeria’s only LNG facility could trigger higher spot prices as global supply to Asia and Europe tighten, the Bloomberg report added.

In 2024, almost half of Nigeria’s LNG exports went to Asia, with another third going to Europe and the remaining to the Americas and Middle East, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Nigeria’s LNG exports declined by 40 per cent in February from the previous month, data compiled by Bloomberg showed.

The stakeholders in Nigeria LNG include the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Shell TotalEnergies and Eni.

Although he was not specific on the percentage of outages experienced by NLNG when he spoke at a panel session during the Nigeria International Energy Summit (NIES) in Abuja last week, Mshelbila had lamented that only two of the company’s six gas trains are currently operational.

He attributed the operational challenges to persistent attacks on NLNG’s gas pipelines by vandals and decried the significant losses suffered by the company due to the insecurity surrounding its gas assets.

The NLNG chief executive emphasised that the company has struggled to meet global demand for liquefied natural gas because of the damage caused by the illegal pipeline connections.

“In the current moment, I am only running two trains out of six. Three of our gas supply pipelines are down for repairs due to illegal connections by thieves. These are critical lines—GTS 1, GTS 2, and GTS 4—that supply the energy required for our operations,” he stated.

The NLNG boss also called for a reevaluation of energy security, highlighting that while progress has been made in securing oil infrastructure, the situation for gas was becoming precarious.

“Energy security has to be seen as important as national security. However, gas security has deteriorated, and until we can safeguard these pipelines, we will continue to underperform,” he warned.

He noted that numerous European countries and others have approached Nigeria for LNG supplies but that the country has been unable to meet their requests.

“Countries like Qatar and the US are in a stronger position, and we are unable to compete due to the security challenges we face,” he added.