, accounting for some three percent in the market share of the latter. However, the country has seen some downturns in liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports in recent times, largely due to limited feedstock gas and the effects of natural disasters on the overall production stream.
Trade in the commodity brings gains
Since 2013, Nigeria’s LNG exports have exceeded 17 billion cubic meters each year, with Spain and China as the
main destinations as of 2023. In the first quarter of 2024, Nigeria registered over 1.7 trillion Nigerian naira
from exporting the fossil fuel, which was equivalent to around one billion U.S. dollars. Generally, since 2010, natural gas rents have covered between 0.5 percent and 1.2 percent of the country’s GDP. Overall, the
oil and gas industry represented approximately 5.3 percent of Nigeria’s GDP in the second quarter of 2023, albeit a decline compared to other previous quarters.
Nigeria’s natural gas production at the international forefront
Nigeria ranked 17th in the
global natural gas production as of 2023, after the UAE and Uzbekistan. The country measured close to 44 billion cubic meters in the natural gas output, placing it above countries such as Oman, Argentina, and Mexico. On the African continent, it ranks third after Algeria and Egypt. In spite of the existing and emerging factors that slow down production of the chemical in Nigeria, the country is still relentless in its contributions to the global threshold. It has made significant efforts in increasing its
proved natural gas reserves since 1960, additionally expanding the
capacity of its liquefaction plants which is also expected to boost developments in the industry. Indeed, several operational gas trains in the country accounted for these.
The country relies heavily on natural gas
The
domestic consumption of natural gas in Nigeria declined by around 6.4 percent in 2022, compared to the preceding year. Similarly, the per capita use of the fossil fuel dropped in 2022, after a continuous increase since 2020. These refer to the amount of gas consumed locally, without considering exports. Nonetheless, natural gas is the
main source of electricity generation in the country, accounting for nearly 80 percent of the sources. However, the amount of gas used by the industrial sector was relatively high and did not differ greatly from that which was used by the power generation sector in 2022. Consequently, the year-on-year
demand for gas in Nigeria soared by over 44 percent in 2023, a notable fraction in Africa’s total natural gas demand. Overall, the nation would have to keep its production levels above those of demand to sustainably meet both domestic and international demand of the chemical.
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