Nigeria’s exports of Liquefied Natural Gas dropped by 20% last week, according to Bloomberg’s ship-tracking data.
The decline is attributed to ongoing vandalism and sabotage of pipelines in the Niger Delta region.
Nigeria LNG Ltd. confirmed to Bloomberg that these disruptions have affected gas supplies to its plant, leading to delays in 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 stated.
It was noted that shipments scheduled for export next month could be delayed by at least 10 days due to significant losses from pipeline vandalism.
While Nigeria’s gas exports have faced disruptions because of security issues in the Niger Delta, shipments from the NLNG complex showed signs of recovery in 2024.
With the ongoing sabotage of oil and gas installations, Nigeria is losing the recent gains in production and supplies, making it increasingly difficult to meet demand.
In 2022, NLNG declared ‘force majeure,’ requesting 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 noted.
Pipeline vandalism and oil theft persist in the Niger Delta region, despite reported successes by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) in its efforts to combat crude oil theft.
These ongoing issues continue to undermine the country’s oil and gas production and supply stability.
The national oil company reported the discovery of thousands of illegal refineries and pipeline connections in 2024, highlighting the scale of oil theft and pipeline vandalism in the region.
