The Independent Commodity Intelligence Services has revealed that Nigeria is aiming to export 16.2 million tonnes of Liquefied Natural Gas in 2023.

According to ICIS, Nigeria’s LNG exports depreciated in 2022, falling 15 per cent compared with 2021.

“We forecast Nigerian exports will rise slightly to 16.2 million tonnes, but still below the 17.1 million tonnes exported in 2021,” the report said.

It also disclosed that the expectation of Africa re-starting LNG imports in 2022 failed to materialise due to the soaring cost of LNG following the start of the war in Ukraine.

According to ICIS, the floating power plants of Senegal and Mozambique are unlikely to switch to gas-fired generation.

“Ghana, Senegal and Mozambique were all expected to receive their first cargoes to support power generation, but we no longer consider this viable in any noteworthy volume in the short-term.

“In Ghana, the Floating Storage and Regasification Unit that was briefly stationed at the Tema terminal – the Vasant – is now set to act as the new floating terminal for Turkey. The originally designated FSRU, the Torman II, remains in the Singapore shipyards,” it said.

The report also said that the government foresees the operation of the country’s gas liquefaction plants at total capacity throughout 2023.

It said, “After a weak second half of the year in 2022, Angola’s 5.4 mtpa Soyo plant finished the year strongly, and ICIS forecasts a slight recovery of around 0.4 million tonnes to around 3.8 million tonnes in 2023,” according to the report.

“Algeria experienced a weak 2022 in terms of LNG exports, seeing a drop of 1.5 million tonnes year-on-year. In 2023, however, ICIS expects a recovery of around 0.8 million to 11 million tonnes.”