The Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) is facing significant challenges in meeting global demand for liquefied natural gas due to persistent pipeline vandalism.
According to the company’s Managing Director/CEO, Dr. Philip Mshelbila,only two of NLNG’s six gas trains are currently operational.
He spoke at a panel session during the ongoing Nigeria International Energy Summit on Wednesday in Abuja.
Persecondnews reports that late January Nigeria’s exports of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) dropped by 20%, according to data from Bloomberg ship-tracking.
The hit on the country’s LNG exports is due to persistent vandalism and sabotage of pipelines in the Niger Delta region.
LNG Ltd. disclosed that the sabotage and vandalism has curtailed gas supplies to its plant and this is affecting scheduled shipments.
NLNG exports took a hit in 2023, declining by 20% due to rampant pipeline vandalism. The company exported 17.5 billion cubic meters of LNG in 2023, a significant drop from previous years.
The decrease in exports translates to a reduction of about 3.5 billion cubic meters of LNG supplies.
The persistent problem of pipeline vandalism has led to the discovery of thousands of illegal refineries and pipeline connections.
In 2024, the national oil company reported uncovering numerous illegal facilities, and this year, over 300 illegal refineries and approximately 100 illegal pipeline connections have been discovered.
These illicit activities continue to undermine Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, resulting in significant losses for the country.
Mshelbila attributed the operational challenges to the high level of vandalism on the company’s gas pipelines.
“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,” he said.
The affected pipelines, GTS 1, GTS 2, and GTS 4, are critical to NLNG’s operations, supplying the energy required to run the trains.
The NLNG boss noted the need for a reevaluation of energy security, stating that “energy security has to be seen as important as national security.”
He noted that while progress has been made in securing oil infrastructure, the situation for gas is becoming increasingly precarious.
“However, gas security has deteriorated, and until we can safeguard these pipelines, we will continue to underperform,” he added.
The company has received requests from several European countries for LNG supplies, but has been unable to meet these demands due to the security challenges it faces.
“Countries like Qatar and the U.S. are in a stronger position, and we are unable to compete due to the security challenges we face,” Mshelbila said.
Despite these challenges, NLNG has achieved success through its public-private partnership model, particularly in the development of the Train 7 project.
“Train 7, a $5bn investment, is an example of the success of this model. We’ve been overwhelmed by the interest shown by investors, which is a positive reflection of the company’s governance and structure,” he said.
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