Nigeria has earned over $1 billion from the sale of natural gas to Portugal in 2022 alone.
Group managing director, Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd, Mele Kyari made this known when President Muhammadu Buhari led a high-level Nigerian business delegation to the Nigeria-Portugal Business & Trade Forum on the sidelines of the 2nd UN Ocean Conference in Portugal, on Thursday.
Kyari also disclosed that Nigeria will in the next five years begin the massive export of Liquified Natural Gas to Portugal and other European countries.
President Buhari and the President of Portugal, Marcelo Sousa led other top officials of both countries to a visit to the NNPC exhibition centre.
The visit was made at the sidelines of Nigeria-Portugal Business Forum which is being organised as part of measures to unlock fresh investments in critical sectors of the Nigerian economy.
Some of the sectors being targeted by the government are oil and gas, agro business, information and communication technology, manufacturing and processing, renewable, pharmaceuticals and construction.
The event is also being attended by the minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Niyi Adebayo; Nigeria’s Ambassador to Portugal, Alex Kefas; the group general manager, NAPIMS Bala Wunti, the executive secretary of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission, Emeka Offor.
Nigeria is pursuing energy transition in order to promote economic growth and is gradually investing in gas so as to reduce carbon emissions whilst continuing to exploit hydrocarbon resources.
Currently, natural gas is the energy transition fuel for Nigeria and the country has six quadrillion BTU of energy production annually, making it the second highest in Africa.
The country also has a geographical vantage position with easy access to the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Ocean, giving it unhindered access to the most critical global trade routes and markets.
Kyari told both presidents that Nigeria is part of the sovereignty of energy security in Portugal, adding that as a matter of fact, the country is insulated from the current energy challenges in Europe because of the quantum of gas supply coming from Nigeria.
He said, “Nigeria provides 70 per cent of Liquified Natural Gas to Portugal, we are part of the sovereignty of energy security in Portugal and as a matter of fact, the country is insulated from it in Europe because of the supply that is coming from Nigeria.
“We are working to put extensive infrastructure on ground to ensure more supply to Europe and we are working with the European Union. We are on the Moroccan pipeline to ensure that we export to Europe and to ensure that in a very short time, in no more than five years, we will see massive LNG supply from Nigeria into Portugal.”
