NIGERIA, Algeria and Egypt have been approached to boost African liquefied natural gas, LNG, exports in the short term.
In its latest report (The State of Energy in Africa 2023), the African Energy Chamber, AEC, revealed that the three nations would drive the continent's export volumes.
He argued that the development, which would be enhanced by existing and planned pipelines and other infrastructure, should have an impact on Nigeria and other countries.
Specifically, the report states: "Africa is in a prime position to increase its natural gas production and benefit from an undersupplied LNG market and demand from Europe. In the short term, however, few significant volumes are expected to come online and Africa's overall natural gas production is expected to decline marginally from 2022 to 2025.
« Une accélération est attendue au cours de la seconde moitié de cette décennie alors que le Mozambique augmente sa production de GNL et que de nouvelles startups gazières à travers le continent sont « mises en ligne » et prennent la production sur une tendance à la hausse.
"But an increased focus on LNG exports is evident with an expected increase in short-term LNG flows from the continent. Nigeria and Algeria are expected to generate the majority of these export volumes with additional flows from Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique and GTA offshore Senegal and Mauritania.
However, NLNG Limited, said: "We are fully committed to our expansion programme: the NLNG Train 7 project which will increase our production capacity by 35% from the current 22 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) to 30mtpa.
« Cette expansion garantira que le Nigeria, avec ses importantes réserves de gaz (202 tcf de réserves de gaz prouvées, les 9ème plus grandes au monde) reste un fournisseur de GNL de premier plan, fiable et préféré dans le monde de l’énergie en constante expansion.
« Le 27 décembre 2019, les actionnaires de NLNG ont pris la décision finale d’investissement (FID) pour le projet et le 13 mai 2020 ont attribué les contrats d’ingénierie, d’approvisionnement et de construction (EPC) pour le projet au consortium SCD JV, comprenant des filiales de Saipem, Chiyoda et Daewoo. .
« Le 15 juin 2021, le président de la République fédérale du Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, a annoncé la construction du projet Train 7 de Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) lors de la cérémonie d’inauguration des travaux sur le site de l’usine de la société sur l’île de Bonny, dans l’État de Rivers.
"The foundation stone was laid on behalf of President Buhari, who flagged off the project, by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, supported by the Executive Governor of Rivers State, Barr. Nyesom Wike CON, represented by the Deputy Governor, Dr. (Mrs.) Ipalibo Harry Banigo; the Amanyanabo of the Kingdom of Grand Bonny, His Majesty, King Edward Asimini William Dappa Pepple III, Perekule XI; the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr. Mele Kyari; the Chairman of the Board of Directors of NLNG, His Majesty Dr. Edmund Daukoru, Managing Director/CEO of NLNG, Engr. Tony Attah; and NLNG Deputy Managing Director, Engr. Sadeeq Mai-Bornu, among others.
He added: "Train 7 means growth for the Nigerian oil and gas industry.
More than $10 billion is expected to be invested in Train 7 and the upstream scope of the LNG value chain, which will open up new development opportunities in the industry and enhance Nigeria's foreign direct investment (FDI) profile and foreign investor confidence. The project is expected to create over 12,000 new jobs during the construction phase and, once completed, will further diversify the federal government's revenue portfolio. It will also increase its tax base.
Similarly, AEC Executive Chairman NJ Ayuk said that LNG remains the cleanest fossil fuel, which makes it important in this phase of the energy transition.
He said: "Driven by growth in power generation and industrial demand, particularly in developing countries that need more energy than less, the LNG market is expected to grow by 50% by 2030. This translates into tens of thousands of jobs at each LNG facility, as well as an increase in economic activity that follows job creation. Being considered a "transitional fuel" is just one of the advantages of LNG.
"Equally important, LNG is easily transported over long distances from production basins to markets around the world. With the US, China, Europe and much of Asia relying on LNG volumes from Africa as part of their efforts to reduce greenhouse gases, long-distance access is a significant advantage.
« En outre, dans les zones où il existe une infrastructure de gazoducs, comme de l’Afrique du Nord vers l’Europe, et des relations d’exportation établies, le GNL africain est considéré comme une alternative immédiate, en particulier compte tenu de l’interdiction des importations russes. Ces exportations ne manqueront pas d’améliorer la productivité économique nationale, régionale et locale – et, en fin de compte, de sortir des familles entières de la pauvreté.
He added: "In total, these four sub-Saharan countries - Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Angola and Cameroon - have up to 33.8 mtpa of LNG export capacity. Add the potential of existing and planned projects in Mozambique, Tanzania, Ghana and Mauritania-Senegal, and regional capacity could reach 134 mtpa by 2030, market conditions permitting. The continent is expected to increase its gas production from around 260 bcm in 2022 to 335 bcm by 2029."