Nigeria’s LNG exports drop by 20% as pipeline vandalism persists  

The hit on the country’s LNG exports is due to persistent vandalism and sabotage of pipelines in the Niger Delta region.

The Nigeria LNG Ltd. told Bloomberg that the sabotage and vandalism has curtailed gas supplies to its plant and this is affecting scheduled shipments.

“The loss of facilities due to vandalism and sabotage impacts feed-gas supplies to NLNG and delivery timelines,” Sophia Horsfall, NLNG’s General Manager for external relations and sustainable development, told the international news service.

In 2022, NLNG declared ‘force majeure’, that is, it requested to be released from its contractual obligations as it could not guarantee deliveries due to unforeseen circumstances beyond its control.

The company “continues to engage its feed gas suppliers and relevant government security agencies for improved security regime for upstream production and transmission,” Horsfall said further.

Meanwhile, the latest export setback coincides with soaring European demand for LNG, driven by the loss of Russian piped gas and depleting reserves in Europe.

Pipeline vandalism and oil theft continue unabated in the Niger Delta region despite reported triumphant gains by the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited in its war against crude oil theft.

President Bola Tinubu targets an increase in oil production from the current daily average of below 1.5 million barrels per day to 2.06 million bpd. However, experts say this may not be achieved if the insecurity in the oil-rich Niger Delta persists.