Nigeria’s gas output declines by 21% to 145BSCF in one month

Ilenre Irele

Nigeria’s gas output plummeted by 21 per cent to 144.909 billion standard cubic feet at the end of February 2024, compared with gas output of 182.742 billion SCF (BSCF) in January according to the monthly gas report of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, NNPC, Limited.

This comes as gas production is surmised to increase slightly in the second quarter of 2024, driven by growing domestic demand and exports via the West African Gas Pipeline.

Specifically, the projected rise in domestic gas supply is expected to be driven by government efforts to increase gas supply for power generation and industrial use, while gas export would be driven by strong Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) exports, especially with the country’s LNG plants operating at near-full capacity.

Meanwhile, the NNPC, in its gas utilisation report for February 2024, disclosed that average daily gas production in the country dropped by 15 per cent from 5.895 billion SCF in January 2024 to 4,997 billion SCF in February 2024.

Giving a breakdown of gas produced in the month under review, the NNPC stated that Associated Gas (AG) accounted for 67.73 per cent of total gas output, with 98.142 billion SCF, while Non-Associated Gas (NAG) accounted for 32.27 per cent of total gas output.

Further analysing the volume of gas utilised from the total output, the NNPC reported that 7.885 billion SCF was utilised as fuel gas; 60.979 billion SCF was utilised by the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG); while 73 million SCF was utilised by the Escravos Gas to Liquid (EGTL) project.

In addition, it stated that 1.494 billion SCF was utilised as Natural Gas Liquid/ Liquified Petroleum Gas (NGL/LPG); domestic gas sales by the Nigerian Gas Company and others took up 17.734 billion SCF of gas; while 45.904 billion SCF was utilised for gas reinject and gas lift make-up.

To this end, the NNPC noted that 134.067 billion SCF of gas, representing 92.51 per cent of total output was utilised, while 10.67 billion SCF of gas, representing 7.4 per cent was flared.

Further analysis showed that the total volume of gas utilised in February 2024 dipped by 14.37 per cent compared with the 156.562 billion SCF utilised in January 2024, while the volume of gas flared in February 2024 was 14.67 per cent lower than the 12.505 billion SCF of gas flared in the previous month.

Shell Nigeria, operating in the joint venture segment, recorded the highest gas output in the month under review, with 38 billion SCF of gas, followed by Total Energies, with gas output of 20.53 billion SCF and Mobil, with gas output of 20.361 billion SCF.

Star Deepwater-Agbami Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, operating under the product sharing contract arrangement recorded gas output of 12.973 billion SCF, while Total Upstream Nigeria recorded gas output of 10.741 billion SCF.

However, the NNPC identified Seplat and the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) as the worst offenders in terms of gas flaring, with the companies flaring 100 per cent of their total of 160 million SCF and six million SCF of gas output in the month under review, while Enageed (Oil Mining Lease 148) and Agip Energy and Natural Resources (Agbara) flared 97.03 per cent and 94.53 per cent, respectively, of their gas outputs.