Widespread flooding that hit 31 out of 36 states in the country has forced Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG), a major liquified natural-gas company that exports internationally, on Monday to declare force majeure.
This development is coming at a time European countries, many of which relied heavily on Russia’s gas before the war in Ukraine, are scrambling to find alternative energy sources, including from Nigeria.
With a total production capacity of 22 million tonnes of LNG annually, the NLNG is a joint venture between the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Shell, TotalEnergies and Eni.
The decision to declare force majeure on product supplies was taken after upstream gas suppliers declared force majeure themselves, Andy Odeh, NLNG’s General Manager for External Relations stated in a response.
“The notice by the gas suppliers was a result of high flood water levels in their operational areas, leading to a shut-in of gas production which has caused significant disruption of gas supply to NLNG,” he said.
“Consequently, NLNG activated force majeure.” Nigeria has experienced exceptionally heavy rains since August — the worst in a decade according to officials.
Over 600 people have died, and over 82,000 houses washed away. At least 110,000 hectares (272,000 acres) of farmland have been destroyed in the floods, Nigeria’s Minister of Humanitarian Affairs Sadiya Umar Farouq said Sunday.
“We are currently reviewing the situation with gas suppliers to ascertain the extent of the disruption to our operations but would, as a reasonable and prudent operator, endeavour to mitigate the impact of the force majeure to the extent reasonably possible,” Odeh said.
The risk of more floods until the end of November remains rife, the Meteorological agencies have warned. States along the coastlines including in the oil-rich southern states remain more vulnerable.
