En attendant Godot: EU looks to replace gas from Russia with Nigerian supplies

The European Union is seeking additional gas supplies from Nigeria as the bloc prepares for potential Russian supply cuts, the deputy director general of the European Commission’s energy department has said.
Matthew Baldwin was speaking in Nigeria where he held meetings with officials from Africa’s largest oil producer this week. He was told that Nigeria was improving security in the Niger Delta and planned to reopen the Trans Niger pipeline after August, which would yield more gas exports to Europe.

Oil and gas output in Nigeria is being throttled by theft and vandalism of pipelines, leaving gas producer Nigeria LNG Ltd’s terminal at Bonny Island operating at 60 percent capacity.

The EU imports 14 percent of its total LNG supplies from Nigeria and there is potential to more than double this, Baldwin told Reuters by phone. “If we can get up to beyond 80 percent, at that point, there might be additional LNG that could be available for spot cargoes to come to Europe,” Baldwin said.