Nigeria’s NNPC starts LNG deliveries to Japan and China

NNPC, which has a 49 percent stake in Nigeria LNG, the operator of the six-train 22 mtpa facility on Bonny Island, said in a statement on Monday it has achieved the milestone through the collaboration of two of its downstream subsidiaries – NNPC LNG and NNPC Shipping.

Under a DES delivery, the seller agrees to deliver LNG at a specific terminal and takes responsibility for the shipping and insurance until the shipment arrives to the specified location.

According to NNPC, the company delivered its first DES LNG cargo onboard the 174,000-cbm LNG vessel, Grazyna Gesicka, at the Futtsu terminal in Japan, on June 27.

Grazyna Gesicka, owned by Knutsen and chartered by Poland’s Orlen, delivered the cargo from the Bonny LNG plant to Jera’s Futtsu LNG import terminal in Chiba prefecture on Tokyo Bay, its AIS data provided by VesselsValue shows.

Following this shipment, NNPC has expanded its footprint to China with the delivery of one LNG cargo on a DES basis, it said.

NNPC did not provide further details regarding this shipment.

Images posted by NNPC show the 154,500-cbm, LNG Alliance, previously known as Gaselys.

This vessel, owned by Sinokor, delivered a shipment last week from the Bonny LNG plant to the Diefu LNG import terminal in Shenzhen, Guangdong, operated by PipeChina, its AIS data shows.

NNPC to deliver at least two LNG cargoes more by end of this year

NNPC has been involved in LNG trading since 2021 with its first LNG cargo sale in November of that year.

The company has since traded over 20 cargoes into the European and Asian markets on a free on board (FOB) basis, it said.

“The DES system, apart from being more financially rewarding, allows NNPC inroads into the downstream segment of the LNG sector and positions it to capture more market shares while building in-house capacity and ensuring that global customers are familiar with the NNPC brand,” NNPC’s executive president, downstream, Dapo Segun, said:

Moreover, the collaboration between NNPC LNG and NNPC Shipping in executing the LNG supplies on a DES basis has strengthened the latter’s position as a “world class shipping provider” in the LNG sector.

“NNPC Shipping intends to build a shipping portfolio (including owned vessels) so that we can provide our sister company and other clients all the shipping flexibilities they need,” managing director of NNPC Shipping, Panos Gliatis, said.

NNPC LNG, in collaboration with NNPC Shipping, is scheduled to deliver “at least two more LNG cargoes” to the Asian market on a DES basis by November.

“Many more orders are expected before the end of year,” NNPC said in the statement.