According to data from the Statistical Review of World Energy report released by the Energy Institute, Nigeria’s natural gas production declined in 2022 to its lowest level in 2015. In 2022, Nigeria produced 40.4 billion cubic metres of natural gas, down by 10.6% from the 45.2 billion cubic metres produced in 2021.
The report provided data on Nigeria’s natural gas production spanning from 2012 to 2022. In 2012, Nigeria’s production amounted to 39.2 billion cubic meters, followed by a decrease to 33.1 billion cubic meters in 2013. Subsequently, there was an increase to 40.0 billion cubic meters in 2014 and further growth to 47.6 billion cubic meters in 2015. However, production dipped to 42.6 billion cubic meters in 2016.
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In 2017, the figure rebounded to 47.2 billion cubic meters and continued to rise to 48.3 billion cubic meters in 2018, reaching a peak of 49.3 billion cubic meters in 2019. Nigeria achieved a record high of 49.4 billion cubic meters in 2020 but experienced a decline to 45.2 billion cubic meters in 2021, followed by a further drop to 40.4 billion cubic meters in 2022.
In Africa, Nigeria remained the third largest producer of natural gas behind Algeria with 98.2 billion cubic metres and Egypt with 64.5 billion cubic metres. Globally, the USA remains the largest producer of natural gas in the world as the country produced 978.6 billion cubic metres of natural gas in 2022. They are followed by Russia which followed 618.4 billion cubic metres, Iran with 259.4 billion cubic metres, and China with 221.8 billion cubic metres.
Regarding Liquefied Natural Gas, Nigeria experienced a significant decline in LNG exports, reaching a 10-year low in 2022 with only 19.6 billion cubic meters exported. Despite this decrease, Nigeria maintained its position as the top LNG exporter in Africa, with Algeria following closely behind at 14.4 billion cubic meters. Compared to the previous year, Nigeria’s LNG exports in 2022 suffered a substantial drop of 16.1%, down from the 23.4 billion cubic meters exported in 2021.
Nigeria’s LNG exports experienced fluctuations over the past decade. In 2012, the country exported 27.9 billion cubic meters of LNG. However, this number declined to 22.5 billion in 2013 before rebounding to 26.1 billion in 2014. In 2015, Nigeria exported 26.9 billion cubic meters, but then faced another drop to 24.6 billion cubic meters in 2016. The trend continued with a rise to 28.3 billion in 2017, followed by a slight decrease to 27.8 billion. The peak was achieved in 2019 when exports reached an all-time high of 28.8 billion cubic meters, but it slightly decreased to 28.4 billion in 2020 and further dropped to 23.4 billion in 2021.
The major importers of LNG from Nigeria in 2022 were in Europe as Nigeria exported 12 billion cubic metres of LNG to Europe, with Spain leading the charge. Kuwait emerged as an unexpected importer of Nigeria’s LNG in 2022, purchasing 1.5 billion cubic metres from the country. India, Japan, and France each purchased 1.3 billion cubic metres of LNG from Nigeria in 2022.
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Globally, Australia, Qatar, and the US made up the world’s largest exporters of LNG, with Russia, Malaysia, and Nigeria trailing behind as other major exporters of LNG.
The major use of natural gas in Nigeria is power generation, as 80% of Nigeria’s electricity is generated from gas-fired thermal power plants. Natural gas also serves as a feedstock in industrial processes such as petrochemicals and fertilizer production. The increasing price of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) in the country has led to potential demand for domestic use of natural gas. Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) is increasingly being used as an alternative vehicle fuel in Nigeria.
