Israel-Iran war has opened commercial opportunities for Nigeria — NNPC
Executive Vice President of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Olalekan Ogunleye, has said that the ongoing crisis in the Middle East has opened up commercial opportunities for Nigeria, as the country sees stronger demand for its liquefied natural gas cargoes.
His stance comes as global economies are experiencing energy disruptions from the war between Israel and the US and Iran.
Ogunleye, who spoke at the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston, noted that buyers are increasingly looking to Nigeria because of its proximity to key consuming nations and the scale of its gas reserves.
Nigeria LNG (NLNG), in which NNPC is the largest shareholder, can export up to 22 million metric tons per year and is building a seventh production train scheduled for completion in 2027.
“We are right in the middle of the market. We are 10 sailing days from Europe, close to the Atlantic Basin, and close to Asia,” Ogunleye said. “We see commercial opportunities on top of the fact that we have the most gas reserves in Africa.”
Ogunleye said demand for natural gas has proven resilient, adding that the current geopolitical tensions would not derail its growth.
He said NNPC has started talks on adding two new LNG trains and is also pursuing a 12 million metric tons per annum (mtpa) LNG project alongside gas‑based industrial hubs to tap more than 200 trillion cubic feet of reserves in Nigeria.
