NLNG urges Gas Industry to make methane reduction business priority

By Onu Okorie

Nigeria LNG Limited NLNG has called on the global natural gas industry to make methane reduction a business priority, arguing that cutting methane emissions can simultaneously reduce environmental impact, recover lost gas and improve financial returns.
The company said every tonne of methane released into the atmosphere represents lost gas and revenue that could otherwise be captured and sold.
The call was made by NLNG Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Adeleye Falade, at the Gastech 2026 Exhibition and Conference in Bangkok, Thailand, during a panel session titled, “Capturing the Lost Opportunity: Driving Global Alignment on Methane Abatement Across Natural Gas Supply Chains.”
In a statement by NLNG General Manager, External Relations and Sustainable Development, Sophia Horsfall, Falade said the company’s approach to methane management begins with accurately measuring gas losses and using the data to guide investments in leak prevention and gas recovery.
He said independent verification of emissions data was also critical to ensuring credible reporting.
Falade urged industry stakeholders to move away from viewing methane reduction solely as a cost, saying investments in abatement could deliver both commercial and environmental benefits.
“Every tonne emitted is lost product, lost revenue and lost energy; gas we could have sold. Every molecule of methane avoided is both an emissions reduction and a recovered energy resource,” he said.
He cited NLNG’s new boil-off gas compressor and start-up gas recovery project as examples of investments designed to reduce methane emissions while generating financial value.
According to him, each project is expected to reduce methane emissions by approximately 10 to 15 per cent and has a positive projected net present value, indicating that the anticipated financial benefits are expected to exceed project costs over their lifetimes.
“The most compelling business case is the simplest one: the projects that cut our methane also pay for themselves. The same discipline that reduces methane also improves asset reliability and plant efficiency. The returns show up in more places than the emissions ledger,” Falade said.
He explained that reliable measurement was central to NLNG’s investment decisions because it enables the company to identify methane losses, direct resources towards appropriate interventions and evaluate the effectiveness of its actions.
Falade said NLNG had demonstrated that gas producers in developing economies could establish emissions-reporting systems that meet international standards by investing in monitoring infrastructure, strengthening reporting capabilities and subjecting data to independent scrutiny.
He highlighted NLNG’s Gold Standard recognition under the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP) 2.0, noting that the company was the first in Africa to achieve Level 5 methane emissions reporting.
He added that NLNG’s measurement, reporting and verification system is independently assured by DNV in accordance with ISO 14064.
The company’s methane-management strategy includes site-wide optical gas imaging, a structured Leak Detection and Repair programme, as well as the phased deployment of continuous monitoring systems and real-time dashboards across its plant and vessels.
Falade said credible measurement depended more on institutional commitment than geography, adding that NLNG had demonstrated that high-quality emissions monitoring could be achieved in Africa.
He said the company had not waited for perfect infrastructure before taking action, but instead prioritised credible measurement, invested in appropriate technology and strengthened its reporting through independent verification.
According to him, the industry should raise standards globally rather than lower expectations for producers in emerging economies.
Falade also disclosed that methane reduction considerations were being incorporated into the design of NLNG’s Train 7 project, which is expected to increase the company’s LNG production capacity from 22 million tonnes per annum to 30 million tonnes per annum.
At the national level, he said NLNG’s longstanding role in converting gas that would otherwise have been flared into marketable LNG had contributed to reducing Nigeria’s gas-flaring rate from more than 65 per cent to below 20 per cent.
He described the conversion of wasted gas into a commercial product as the original business case for emissions abatement.
Falade further noted that credible emissions data was becoming increasingly important beyond plant operations, as methane intensity could influence procurement decisions, financing and buyer confidence.
For NLNG, he said, this required extending emissions measurement and reduction efforts throughout the company’s supply chain.
Through its formal Scope 3 Advocacy Plan, NLNG engages feed-gas suppliers and contractors to measure, disclose and reduce emissions. The company also sources verified upstream emissions data from its feed-gas producers and incorporates environmental, social and governance considerations, alongside emissions criteria, into supplier selection and evaluation.
On regulation, Falade called for greater consistency among jurisdictions, saying differences in measurement methodologies and reporting requirements could make enforcement uneven and make meaningful comparisons more difficult.
“The industry does not need weaker standards; it needs stronger, shared ones backed by real measurement,” he said.
Addressing the balance between climate ambitions, energy access and affordability, Falade said NLNG’s operations support Nigeria’s objectives of achieving net-zero emissions by 2060 and ending routine gas flaring by 2030.
He stressed, however, that emissions reduction must progress alongside efforts to meet the energy needs of households and businesses.
“Developing economies cannot be asked to choose between economic development and emissions reduction. Both must progress together,” he said.
Falade said NLNG’s approach was built around three principles: credible measurement of gas losses, investment in gas recovery and the application of consistent standards across the value chain.
He was joined on the panel by Zubin Bamji of the World Bank, Niels Dijksman of Brunei LNG and Hiroyuki Mori of JOGMEC. The session was moderated by Dr Carole Nakhle.