Gas revenue drops by N3tn in 12 months – Report

The Federal Government, last year, lost the sum of N3.3tn gas revenue last year, as a result of drop in export due to low production, according to data obtained from a global professional body for the energy sector, the Energy Institute.

The Institute in its latest report on Statistical Review of World Energy published in June, said exports of liquefied natural gas dropped by 16 per cent to about 20 billion cubic meters last year, giving Nigeria less than a 4 per cent share in global LNG exports.

“However, gas output declined by nearly 11 per cent from the previous year to 40.4 bcm in 2022, down from over 49 bcm a year in 2019 and 2020, according to industry body the Energy Institute.

The average price for LNG in 2022 was $388 per thousand cubic meters, making it an estimated $7.8tn loss as a result of 20bcm shortage in production. Average dollar exchange rate to naira as of last year was also N424/$1. Estimation puts total revenue loss due to low LNG export to N3.3tn.

Nigeria exports 3.7 billion cubic feet daily to global destinations through the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited and the West African Gas Pipeline.

Daily gas production stands at 7.8 billion cubic feet, but 2.2 billion cubic feet of gas are re-injected daily. Meanwhile, daily gas consumption averages 1.5 billion cubic feet, serving domestic and commercial applications.

In 2022, global trade in LNG set a record high, averaging 51.7bcf per day, a 5 per cent increase compared with 2021, according to data by CEDIGAZ.

The US LNG exports in 2022 increased by 16 per cent (1.4 Bcf/d) to 10.2 Bcf/d compared with 2021- the largest increase of all LNG-exporting countries. In the first half of 2022, after the new Calcasieu Pass LNG export facility was commissioned, the United States became the world’s top LNG exporter for the first time. However, because the Freeport LNG export terminal shut down, U.S. LNG exports declined in the second half of the year. In 2022, Qatar and Australia remained the top two global LNG exporters; Qatar’s exports averaged 10.5 Bcf/d, and Australia’s exports averaged 10.4 Bcf/d.

The Minister of State for Gas, Ekperikpe Ekpo, told the Gastech conference on Tuesday in Singapore that Nigeria has sufficient natural gas reserves and can increase its production to more than 5 billion cubic feet per day by 2030.

“In Nigeria, it has been declared a decade of gas from 2020 to 2030. So by 2030, we’ll get to 5.5 billion cubic feet of daily production (57 billion cubic meters a year),” Ekpo said.