Following the boycott of Russia’s crude oil and gas by NATO countries over the invasion of Ukraine, European countries imported 9.4billion cubic metres of Liquefied Natural Gas from Nigeria in 2022, the European Union has announced.

European Union’s Commissioner for Energy in Nigeria, Ms. Kadri Simson, who disclosed this at the weekend, said though the EU was promoting energy transition away from fossil fuels, it will continue to rely on LNG in the short term.

Simson, who spoke during a visit to NLNG’s plant in Bonny Island, Rivers State, described Nigeria as a reliable partner and noted that the country has the potential to export more LNG to Europe between now and 2027.

She said, “The EU is accelerating its energy transition, but we also have a need to reinforce our ties with reliable LNG partners like Nigeria in the short-term horizon. This helps us to bridge part of the gap left by former Russian imports while we gradually transition away from fossil fuels.

“Nigeria has proven to be a reliable partner, and last year, 9.4 bcm of LNG was exported from Nigeria to the E.U. But there is potential to do more – in particular between now and 2027,” she stated.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria LNG Limited has announced that its ongoing seventh gas plant popularly called Train-7 project was currently about 50percent completed.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria LNG Limited, Dr. Philip Mshelbila, said the Train-7 Project when completed would increase NLNG’s production capacity to 30 million tonnes paper annually.

He added that NLNG was working on a plan to decarbonise and stated that the company was also looking to the future for further expansion with more trains, which would act as catalysts for the continued advancement of the gas sector.

NLNG is owned by four shareholders, namely, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (49%), Shell Gas B.V. (25.6%), TotalEnergies Gaz & Electricite Holdings (15%), and Eni International N.A. N. V. S.àr.l (10.4%).

Source: Sweetcrudereports