The Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited says it has lost almost $7 billion revenue so far in 2022, due to gas supply constraints.
The company’s General Manager, Production, Adeleye Falade, disclosed this during a panel session at the 45th Nigeria International Conference and Exhibition (NAICE) 2022, with the theme: “Global Transition to Renewable and Sustainable Energy and the Future of Oil and Gas in Africa.”
Speaking on the panel, which centred on the topic: “Operationalising a Clean-Energy Transition for Sustainable Development in Africa, Falade, who represented NLNG’s Managing Director, Dr. Philip Mshelbila, said the company’s 22 million tons per day plant’s production currently trends at 99.4 per cent year-to-date availability while utilisation hovers around 68 per cent.
He decried the security challenges facing oil and gas companies, which had taken a heavy toll on the production and revenues of oil companies.
He said the data between the 99.4 percent availability and the 68 per cent utilisation at the moment, which was equivalent to $7 billion revenue, was part of the effect of the critical oil and gas pipelines that were shut down due to insecurity at the facilities.
Falade further stated that the unavailability of important gas pipelines like the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Pipeline and the lack of gas pipelines in the eastern corridor for distribution were impacting negatively on their production.
He lamented that even the Trans-Niger Pipeline (TNP) which is the main artery in the eastern region, had been shut down since March with no clue as to when it would be back on stream.
He added that as a result of the forgoing, there was no gas to run plants at the LNG
“So what is the guarantee around the security of even the pipeline that we have? And everybody has a role to play in that: government, security agencies, have a role to play,” Falade added.
According to him, based on the work done by the Decade of Gas policy, there was a clear three billion cubic feet (3BCF) gap between gas demand and supply, raising doubts about how to bridge that gap considering the lack of infrastructure and investment.
Falade pointed out that the challenge around lack of gas transportation infrastructure to guarantee sufficient supply of gas which had been designated as Nigeria’s transition fuel was a major challenge in achieving energy transition.
