Portugal looks to sideline Russia for increased Nigerian LNG supplies

Portugal has listed Nigeria alongside the United States as one of the countries it aims to get its supply of liquified natural gas (LNG) from.

This results from a shortage of LNG supplies from the Russian market, on which Portugal has traditionally depended on.

Maria da Graca Carvalho, Portugal's environment minister, disclosed this information on Tuesday.

According to statistics from power and gas networks operator REN, as seen in a report by Reuters, Portugal imported 49,141 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of natural gas in 2024, with around 96% of that amount being LNG.

Approximately 40 percent of those LNG deliveries came from the US, 4.4 percent from Russia, and 51% came from Nigeria.

This is sharp contrast to 2021 when Russia accounted for 15% of Portugal's LNG supplies.

However, sanctions placed on Russian products by the European Union, after the Kremlin declared war on Ukraine has seen Russian supplies dwindle.

"Portugal is now practically independent of Russian gas ... but we want to reduce this figure further by importing more gas from Nigeria and the United States," Graca Carvalho told a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, according to economic website ECO.

A recent report revealed that Nigeria’s LNG trade seems to be on an upward trajectory.

According to data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Nigeria produced 2.5 trillion cubic feet of gas last year.

This amounted to a revenue generation of approximately N8.6tn, throughout the year.

Nigeria generated 1.44TCF of associated gas, according to the data provided by the group. Likewise, in the period under review, 1.06TCF of non-associated gas was produced.

However, 192.89 billion standard cubic feet of gas were flared in 2024, whereas 2.31 trillion TCF of gas was used.

The 2.31TCF of gas used in 2024, as reported by the Punch, was roughly 2,370,061,914 MMBTU. When multiplied by $2.42, it comes to around $5.74 billion.

At an average exchange rate of N1,500 to the dollar, the number equates to around N8.6 trillion produced from gas output in 2024.

In contrast to 2023, when 2.3 tcf of the 2.49 tcf of gas produced was used and 183.52 bcf was flared, 92.2% of the gas generated in 2024 was used, while 7.69 percent was flared.

It took almost 2.46 million standard cubic feet for the gas to shrink.

The Nigerian government, last year, claimed that the country's gas output would increase from 7.5 billion cubic feet per day to 12 billion cubic feet per day.

In keeping with the Decade of Gas ambition, Ekperikpe Ekpo, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), revealed that increasing gas production and transforming Nigeria into a gas economy will be the main priorities in his second year in office.

“In the Decade of Gas, we are looking at turning Nigeria into a gas economy by 2030, in which case, we are looking at growing from 7.5 billion cubic feet to about 12bcf. So, we are progressing in that direction to make sure we have gas sufficiency in the country,” he stated.

LNG-associated gas and non-associated gas

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) can come from two main sources: related gas and non-associated gas.

Associated gas is natural gas that occurs as a byproduct in petroleum reserves. It is "associated" because it coexists with crude oil in the same reservoir.

Typically extracted during the oil production process, the gas is separated from the crude oil and can be utilized as fuel for operations, re-injected into the reservoir to increase oil recovery, or converted into LNG for transportation and consumption.

On the flip side, non-associated gas refers to natural gas that occurs independently of crude oil.

It is found in natural gas reserves that do not contain considerable levels of crude oil.

By Chinedu Okafor, Business Insider Africa

MTN Shares Surge After Nigeria Raises Telecoms Tariffs by 50%

MTN Nigeria Communications Plc’s shares jumped after the Nigerian government raised telecommunications tariffs by 50% to offset the impact of the collapse in the naira and surging inflation.

The stock surged the maximum 10% to 256.30 naira at close in Lagos, the commercial capital. Rival Airtel Africa Plc was unchanged at 2,156.90 naira.

The Nigerian Communications Commission announced the tariff hike late Monday to “support the ability of operators to continue investing in infrastructure and innovation,” according to a statement.

The tariff increase — the first in more than a decade — was half of what companies such as MTN had asked for to weather harsh economic conditions, including a 41% depreciation in the naira against the dollar last year and inflation running near a three-decade high.

Even so, MTN Nigeria Chief Executive Officer Karl Toriola said the adjustment was “an important step toward addressing the impact of the prevailing economic challenges on the company and industry. “It will enable us to maintain the critical investments required to deliver reliable, high-quality services,” he said in a filing to the Nigerian Exchange Group.

The increase will also help telecommunications companies in Africa’s most-populous nation return to profitability, Bismarck Rewane, CEO at consultancy Financial Derivatives Co., said. “Giving them the 50% tariff increase is a boost. We are going to see an increase in base stations, an increase in 5G deployment, an increase in capex,” he said by phone.

While the tariff hike is short of what the companies had asked for, Avior Capital Markets Ltd. analyst Mike Steere said it “far exceeds” the 10% to 20% price rise it had factored into its full-year earnings model for MTN in 2025. The increase should eventually support medium-term revenue growth of over 30%, he said.

Higher prices are also likely to have an inflationary impact in the short—term, Rewane said.

“It increases costs, which will pass through to the consumer,” he said. “But you will see that the telcos will have to invest more in capex and the quality of service will become a key issue. If quality of service improves, you will see productivity will improve. That may offset part of the inflationary impact.”

By Nduka Orjinmo and Emele Onu, Bloomberg

Related story: Nigeria approves tariff hikes to protect Telecoms operator margins

Nigeria approves tariff hikes to protect Telecoms operator margins

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) approved tariff increases for operators in a bid to balance rising operational costs with service quality in Nigeria’s challenging economic climate.

Operators sought to double prices, the NCC capped the increase at 50%, emphasising the need to protect consumers while enabling sustainable industry growth.

In a statement, the NCC noted that tariffs had “remained static” since 2013 despite mounting operational costs. It said the adjustment aims to address a “significant gap between operational costs and current tariffs” while ensuring service delivery to consumers remains unaffected.

The regulator added that higher tariffs would allow operators to invest in infrastructure and fund innovation projects, ultimately benefiting consumers through improved services.

Operators have been mandated to clearly communicate price changes to customers and demonstrate “measurable improvements in service delivery” alongside the increases.

Consumer advocacy group, the National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers (NATCOMS), has vowed to contest the decision. NATCOMS president Deolu Ogunbanjo criticised the NCC for failing to involve subscribers in discussions, despite the regulator’s assertion that it held “extensive consultations with key stakeholders across the public and private sectors.” NATCOMS had previously advocated for a more modest increase of 5–10%.

By Manny Pham, Developing Telecoms

Nigeria nears crude oil production quota as per OPEC guidelines

Nigeria came close to meeting its OPEC-regulated crude oil production target in December, averaging 1.48 million barrels per day, just short of the 1.5 million barrels per day quota. The figure however still maintained Nigeria as Africa’s largest producer.

CGTN

Death toll in Nigeria gas tanker explosion rises to 98

The death toll from a gasoline tanker explosion in north-central Nigeria has risen to 98, the country’s emergency response agency said Monday.

The blast happened in the early hours of Saturday near the Suleja area of Niger state after individuals attempted to transfer gasoline from a crashed oil tanker into another truck using a generator.

The fuel transfer sparked the explosion, resulting in the deaths of those transferring the gasoline and bystanders.

Hussaini Isah, the National Emergency Management Agency's head of operation for Niger State, told the Associated Press on Monday that there is a possibility that the death toll could still rise.

“The death toll keeps changing,” he said.

On Sunday, Isah said the blast claimed many victims because a crowd had gathered at the scene, including people taking pictures, bystanders and others attempting to scoop gasoline.

Gasoline prices in Africa’s most populous country have soared after the administration of President Bola Tinubu removed subsidies on the product more than a year ago in an attempt to channel the resources to more developmental purposes. However, the policy has caused untoward hardship.

Scooping gasoline from a fallen tanker is common in Nigeria as some people see it as an opportunity to get free product that they could either use or resell for a profit.

By Dyepkazah Shibayan, AP

Related story: Nigerian gasoline tanker explosion death toll rises to 86, with 55 others injured