Nigeria LNG scraps shipments after vandals damage pipelines

Nigeria LNG Ltd. canceled several liquefied natural gas shipments after vandalism on pipelines from gas fields disrupted production, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.

The company declared an additional force majeure on LNG cargo for export and canceled the loading of at least two scheduled for January delivery from the Bonny Island facility, according to two people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. As many as ten shipments were canceled, one of the people said. 

Nigeria has been a key LNG supplier to Europe over the last year, helping to partially plug the gap created by the loss of Russian supply. Imports from the African producer made up about 7% of Europe’s LNG supply last year, data compiled by BloombergNEF said.

The latest incident comes after gas exports from the African country were disrupted earlier this year by floods. Security issues, as well as feedgas problems, also curbed output from Nigeria over the past two years.

More shipments, for February, could also be scrapped, the people said. Nigeria LNG wasn’t immediately available for comment.