Nigeria may be facing additional revenue challenges and gas shortage as the Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited has declared force majeure on its 22 million tons per annum (mtpa) processing plant due to widespread flooding that has disrupted gas supply to the company.
The development could worsen Nigeria’s cash crunch situation and curtail global gas supply as Europe and other countries struggle to replace Russian exports due to the invasion of Ukraine.
The NLNG in a statement yesterday, by its General Manager, External Relations and Sustainable Development, Mr. Andy Odeh, said all of its upstream gas suppliers had declared force majeure, forcing it to make the declaration as well.
“The notice by the gas suppliers was a result of high floodwater levels in their operational areas, leading to a shut-in of gas production which has caused significant disruption of gas supply to NLNG,” Odeh said.
He added that NLNG was determining the extent of the disruption and would try to mitigate the impact of the force majeure.
Flooding in Nigeria has killed more than 600 people, displaced 1.4 million and destroyed roads and farmland.
In fact, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) revealed on Sunday that about 2,504, 095 persons have been affected by the worst natural disaster that ravaged the country in several years.
Officials have warned that the flooding, caused by unusually heavy rains and the release of water from a dam in Cameroon, could continue into November.
The NLNG’s supply had already been limited due to prolific oil theft that had slashed output from what was typically Africa’s largest exporter.
The company had exported roughly 18 cargoes in September, according to industry data.
The company had declared recently that it lost almost $7 billion this year as a result of the impact of the alarming oil theft and pipeline vandalism as it was no longer operating at its nameplate capacity of 22mtpa due to gas shortages.
Nigeria relies on fossil fuel exports for 90 percent of its foreign exchange and roughly half its budget. Crude oil exports fell below one million barrels per day (bpd) on average in August, the lowest level since the 1980s, due to theft that has exceeded 80 percent on certain pipelines.
Meanwhile, a civil rights advocacy group, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), yesterday backed human rights lawyer, Femi Falana on allegation that there was a deliberate attempt to cover up the involvement of military personnel in oil theft in the Niger Delta region.
HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, who aligned with the position of the senior lawyer, described, “as sacrilegious, contemptible and scandalous”, the justification by the military, of the destruction of a vessel loaded with stolen crude oil in the Niger Delta area.
Besides, the group has called for a probe of a viral video in which a private jet purportedly belonging to a British businessman was seen flying out from the Zamfara Gold filled forests with what was believed to be gold haulage stolen from Zamfara State.
HURIWA in a statement wondered why the federal government did not tell Nigerians why it ordered a no fly zone in Zamfara State a year ago, when it was clear that there was no airport in Zamfara State.
The group, therefore, called for investigation of the “massive looting” of Gold and solid minerals from Zamfara State by an independent judicial panel.
The group also called for the constitution of a judicial panel of inquiry on the oil bunkering vessel set ablaze by security agents after the vessel was arrested by a private pipeline surveillance team, Tantita Security Services led by a former militant leader, Government Ekpemepulo, popularly known as Tompolo.
Onwubiko recalled that the military at a briefing last week, had claimed that the swift destruction of the oil bunkering vessel is in line with the “rules of engagements.”
Source: Thisday
