By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria witnessed a decline in both its natural gas and liquified natural gas (LNG) production in 2022, the June 2023 Statistical Review of World Energy report has revealed.
The information showed that Nigeria’s current natural gas production levels at N40.4 billion cubic meters (bcm) are not significantly higher than those recorded in 2012.
The report highlights the fluctuations observed in Nigeria’s natural gas production between 2012 and 2022, with the highest production occurring in 2020.
In 2012, Nigeria produced 39.2 billion cubic meters of natural gas, which decreased to 33.1 billion cubic meters in 2013.
The production increased to 40 billion cubic meters in 2014, followed by a further rise to 47.6 billion cubic meters in 2015.
In 2016, the production slightly dipped to 42.6 billion cubic meters but experienced an upturn in 2017, reaching 47.2 billion cubic meters.
The upward trend continued in 2018, with 48.3 billion cubic meters of natural gas produced, and in 2019, Nigeria recorded production of 49.3 billion cubic meters.
The production remained relatively stable at 49.4 billion cubic meters in 2020 but declined to 45.2 billion cubic meters in 2021.
Finally, in 2022, Nigeria’s natural gas production further decreased to 40.4 billion cubic meters.
The country’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports also experienced a decrease, totalling 19.6 billion cubic meters in 2022.
In 2012, Nigeria exported 27.9 billion cubic meters (bcm) of LNG, which decreased to 22.5 billion cubic meters in 2013.
There was a slight increase in 2014, with Nigeria exporting 26.1 billion cubic meters of LNG, and in 2015, the export volume reached 26.9 billion cubic meters.
However, the export volume declined to 24.6 billion cubic meters in 2016 but rose again to 28.3 billion cubic meters in 2017.
The export volume remained relatively stable at 27.8 billion cubic meters in 2018, and in 2019, Nigeria recorded an export volume of 28.8 billion cubic meters.
The export volume for 2020 was 28.4 billion cubic meters but experienced a noticeable decrease in 2021, dropping to 23.4 billion cubic meters.
However, in 2022, Nigeria faced the lowest LNG export volume in the past 10 years, amounting to only 19.6 billion cubic meters.
