Nigeria records second largest global LNG supply addition

Nigeria showed the second largest addition of global supply of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) after Papua New Guinea in 2014, which was attributable to a much improved feed-gas supply, according to data from International Group of Liquefied Natural Gas Importers in their most recent report on the global LNG industry.

“Supply from the Atlantic Basin progressed for the first time since 2010, driven by improved performance in Nigeria (+2.7Mt) as well as in Algeria (+1.9Mt) thanks to the start-up of an expansion train (GL3Z) at Algeria’s Arzew plant,” the report released on April 8, said, noting “these gains in production must not conceal the fact that both countries are still only recovering their 2011 production level, with respectively 19.1Mt and 12.7Mt exported in 2014.”

In 2014, global LNG imports increased by about 2.3Mt. One new supply source came on-stream with the start-up of a two-train liquefaction plant in Papua New Guinea, which quickly reached full production capacity, according to the report.

Taking into account the restart of the Kenai plant in Alaska, USA, 19 countries produced LNG in 2014.

For the third year in a row, the increase in supply was however partly offset by a reduction in production from several exporting countries.

The report noted that in the Asia-Pacific Basin, incremental volumes from Papua New Guinea (+3.4Mt) and Australia (+1.2Mt) were partly counterbalanced by a lower output from all other countries, in particular from Indonesia (-1Mt), Brunei (-0.9Mt) and Malaysia (-0.3Mt).

In the Middle East, maintenance work on the Ras Laffan facilities curtailed Qatar’s annual output by 1.7Mt. Lower than expected volumes from Oman (-0.6Mt) and Yemen (-0.6Mt) largely offset additional supplies from Abu Dhabi (+ 1Mt).

In Egypt (-2.4Mt), exports were further reduced due to growing domestic demand.

Asian imports remained the main growth driver in 2014. The region represents more than 75 percent of global LNG demand.

With no nuclear restarts in 2014, LNG consumption in Japan continued to rise (+1.2Mt) and exceeded 89Mt, which represents more volumes than Asia’s total imports 10 years ago.

After a year of stagnation in 2013, the largest increase in demand came from India, the report said.

Spot and short-term LNG trading – volumes delivered under contracts of four years or less – continued to increase last year, reaching 69.6Mt, a 4.6Mt increase over 2013 (+7%). The share of spot and short-term trades reached 29 percent of total flows, compared with 27 percent in 2013 and 25 percent in 2012.

The Nigerian LNG plant has a capacity of 22 million tons per annum of LNG and 4 million tons per annum of LPG.

PATRICK ATUANYA