New Telegraph

14 vessels ferry N498.6bn liquefied gas from Onne Port

Nigerian wet cargoes are been diverted from Asia to Europe as 14 vessels left Onne Port with 927,606 metric tonnes of liquefied natural gas valued at N416 billion ($890.3 million) in December, 2021. Some of the vessels, which left the country with fuel product, were among those that were diverted from Asia to Europe, where the price is soaring. Finding revealed that the price of the gas has reached $959.81 in China as at December 10, 2021, but it was gathered that the Pacific LNG freight spot rates had fell over 40 per cent week-on-week to $158,000 per day in Asia, leading to the diversion of the product.

It was learnt that the collapse in shipping prices, which hit a record high of $374,500 per day in November, reflects the muted demand in Asia as top China and Japan consumers stay away from the spot market due to ample inventory in their countries. Data obtained from the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) revealed that the following ships were involved in the shipment of the cargo: Celsius Copenhagen with 78,352 tonnes; Finima II, 73,000 tonnes; LNG Alliance, 68,682 tonnes; LNG Lagos II, 77,000 tonnes; Maran Gas Vergina, 80,000 tonnes; LNG Lokoja, 66,000 tonnes; LNG Bayelsa, 63,000 tonnes; LNG Port Harcourt, 73, 621 tonnes and LNG Rivers, 60,913 tonnes; Others are Abuja II, 77,000 tonnes; LNG River Orashi, 64,402 tonnes; LNG Imo, 65,636 tonnes; LNG Cross River, 63,000 tonnes and Gaslog Gladstone, 80,000 tonnes. Also, Refinitiv Eikon, which monitor and analyze financial information revealed that one Nigerian and at least two U.S LNG cargoes had been diverted toward Europe, while sailing through the Indian Ocean.

Two cargoes onboard Minerva Chios and Maran Gas Vergina were redirected towards the Suez Canal, while the Nigerian LNG cargo onboard LNG Finima II was redirected to France. In many cases, an energy intelligence firm, Vortexa, said that ships with cargoes were turning around in the middle of a voyage and heading to the highest price markets in Europe as the market differentials had extended beyond $4 per metric million British thermal units (mmBtu). Average LNG price for February delivery into Northeast Asia rose on Friday to $43.35/ mmBtu, up $7.55, or 21.1 per cent, from the previous week, industry sources said, tracking strong gains in Europe. Meanwhile, gas flare in the country oil fields has fell by 0.33 per cent in the first quarter of 2021 to 45.33 Billion Cubic Feet (BCF), compared to 45.48BCF of gas flared in the fourth quarter of 2020.

Data by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) indicated that gas flare also dropped by 21.75 per cent in the first quarter of 2021 from the 57.93BCF recorded in the first quarter of 2020. The NNPC data showed that between March 2019 and February 2021, a total of 430.97BCF of gas was flared, an equivalent of 1,720 Giga Watts of power was lost in two years. In June, Vitol signed a 10- year deal with Nigerian Liq-uefied natural Gas (NLNG) to off take 500,000 tonnes of LNG annually, beginning from October 2021. It would be recalled that the Managing Director, Nigeria LNG Limited, Dr. Philip Mshelbila said in Lagos that company had consistently made the product available in the country.

Mshelbila, who was represented at a forum by the Manager, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs, Dr Sophia Horsfall, noted that the company had increased its committed volume to the market by consistently reducing its export LPG volumes in satisfaction of domestic demand. He stressed that NLNG had provided a dedicated vessel for this purpose, LPG Vessel, Alfred Temile, adding that the company had taken steps to diversify the supply base of the product by expanding its delivery point from the Lagos terminals to include a Port Harcourt terminal to ensure products were not concentrated in one region by infusing flexibility in supply base. Mshelbila said the benefits of gas to the country would increase on the back of the Train 7 project, which would expand NLNG’s capacity by 35 per cent from 22 million metric tonnes per annum to 30MTPA, stressing that the Train 7 project would add immense value to the country by stimulating inflow of about $10 billion foreign direct investment to Nigeria as part of the project scope.

The managing director added that it would create over 12,000 direct jobs and additional 40,000 indirect construction jobs. Mshelbila said that the project would further the development of Nigerian local capacity and businesses through the 100 per cent in-country execution of construction works, fabrications and major procurement. He explained that it would ultimately increase the company’s volume supply to the global market and keep the country on the top suppliers’ chart as world LNG demand grows. According to him, “this will mean more revenue, more dividends, and more taxes to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

I believe that Train 7 will be an inspiration and catalyst for Trains 8, 9, 10 and even to Train 15 in line with the recent declaration of ‘Decade of Gas’ by Mr President. “This is a first for the company. Total volume for these agreements is 1.1 million tonnes per annum. This is enough energy to power over three million homes. Delivery infrastructure is to be provided by the domestic counterparts.”

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