Growth of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Africa depends on investment and strategic partnerships (IAE 2025)

Accelerating Africa's liquefied natural gas (LNG) ambitions will depend on mobilising risk-tolerant investment, building strong technical and commercial partnerships and committing to local capacity building, according to panellists at the Invest in African Energy (IAE) Forum in Paris.

Speaking at a discussion on the monetisation of African gas, sponsored by Perenco, Julius Rone, Managing Director of UTM Offshore, stressed that demand for LNG remained strong, but that financing was the key to success. "Investment is needed. The market is there. LNG is inevitable; global demand for gas is growing every year. So we need the right investors to monetise our gas.

The $5 billion UTM FLNG offshore Nigeria project is currently in the pre-construction phase. Rone emphasised that local players like UTM Offshore are able to form the right partnerships to drive development. The company plans to obtain an FID in the coming months, move into the construction phase and expand its FLNG technologies beyond Nigeria into other African markets.

Competitiveness starts at the wellhead

For international players, the viability of LNG in Africa depends on low-cost resources and predictable legal frameworks. Federico Petersen, Commercial Director of Golar LNG, pointed out that while Africa has a geographical advantage over the United States in terms of access to global markets, the economics of the project need to be optimised from the outset.

"In the US, liquefaction and transportation are growing - if Africa can beat the US at the well, then it can benefit from competitive liquefaction and get closer to Europe and Asia," said Petersen.

He added that technical capacity and financial strength are essential for large-scale projects, as is speed and access to low-cost gas. "The asset has to be cheap gas. We look at the asset, the contract and the partner... On the contract side, the legal framework and stability have to be there, both for the upstream operators and for us."

Infrastructure approach

According to Denis Chatelan, Perenco's Business Development Director, gas infrastructure must take precedence over LNG exports. The company's strategy favours the use of domestic gas as the basis for future liquefaction, citing power generation and industrial projects in Gabon and Cameroon.

"We didn't start with liquefaction, but with the development of gas resources... We managed to find the right compromise between investment, return on investment and infrastructure," said Chatelan. "At Perenco, we invested in equity. To get big returns, you have to take risks. We took the infrastructure risk, which is an essential first step in developing a country's gas resources."

Local support is key to long-term success

Jiří Rus, sales and business development director at Neuman&Esser, stressed the importance of OEMs establishing operational support in the country to support LNG and gas projects.

"In our partnerships, we focus on operations. We have to support projects not from Germany, but via local service centres. We have one in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, for example, to support future projects, and we are currently doing so in Mozambique," says Rus.

Dominique Gadelle, Vice President of Upstream and LNG at Technip Energies, stressed the importance of anchoring projects in local spin-offs. "Boosting local economies, electricity production... This is essential before embarking on international exports," he said. "We can also consider monetising the gas in different ways, such as fertilisers. We also need to promote regional cooperation, not forgetting local skills, employment, education and training programmes."