TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
EU looks to replace gas from Russia with Nigerian supplies
Baldwin was speaking in Nigeria where he held meetings with officials from Africa's largest oil producer this week.
Change Size
This file photo taken on November 8, 2011 shows the Nordstream gas pipeline terminal prior to an inaugural ceremony for the first of Nord Stream's twin 1,224 kilometre gas pipeline through the Baltic Sea, in Lubmin, northeastern Germany. The Nord Stream pipeline, which supplies Germany with most of its Russian gas, will be shut down for routine maintenance from Monday, July 11, 2022 -- with fears rising that it may remain off for good.
(AFP/John MacDougall)
T
he European Union is seeking additional gas supplies from Nigeria as the bloc prepares for potential Russian supply cuts, Matthew Baldwin, deputy director general of the European Commission's energy department, said on Saturday.
Baldwin was speaking in Nigeria where he held meetings with officials from Africa's largest oil producer this week.
He was told that Nigeria was improving security in the Niger Delta and planned to re-open the Trans Niger pipeline after August, which would yield more gas exports to Europe.
The EU imports 14 percent of its total LNG supplies from Nigeria and there is potential to more than double this, Baldwin told Reuters by phone.
Oil and gas output in Nigeria is being throttled by theft and vandalism of pipelines, leaving gas producer Nigeria LNG Ltd's terminal at Bonny Island operating at 60 percent capacity.
"If we can get up to beyond 80%, at that point, there might be additional LNG that could be available for spot cargoes to come to Europe," Baldwin said.
"They (Nigerian officials) said to us, 'Come and talk to us again at the end of August because we think we can deliver real progress on this'."
Nigeria NLG is owned by state-oil company NNPC Ltd, Shell, TotalEnergies and Eni.
The European Commission said on Wednesday that EU member states should cut their gas use by 15% from August to March. The target would initially be voluntary, but would become mandatory if the Commission declared an emergency.
Last year, Nigeria exported 23 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas to the EU, but the figure has been declining over the years. In 2018 the bloc bought 36 bcm of LNG from Nigeria, Baldwin said.
