NLNG: How Methane Reduction Can Pay for Itself, Boost Gas Revenue

The Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) has urged gas producers globally to treat methane reduction as a business priority, arguing that curbing methane losses can simultaneously increase gas revenues, improve plant efficiency and reduce emissions.

The company’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Adeleye Falade, made the call at the Gastech 2026 Exhibition and Conference in Bangkok, Thailand, where he said methane abatement should be viewed not merely as an environmental obligation but as an opportunity to recover lost gas and generate commercial returns.

Speaking during a panel titled: “Capturing the Lost Opportunity: Driving Global Alignment on Methane Abatement Across Natural Gas Supply Chains,” Falade said NLNG’s approach was built around measuring methane losses, identifying where interventions were required and investing in technologies that could prevent gas from being lost.

“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,” a statement from the company quoted him as saying.

He cited NLNG’s new boil-off gas compressor and start-up gas recovery project as examples of investments designed to deliver both environmental and commercial benefits, noting that each was expected to reduce methane emissions by about 10 to 15 per cent.

According to him, both projects have positive projected net present values, indicating that their anticipated financial returns exceed their costs over their operating lives.

“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,” he said.

Falade said credible measurement was central to NLNG’s methane-reduction strategy because it enabled the company to identify losses, direct investment to appropriate interventions and assess whether those measures were delivering the desired results.

He said NLNG’s experience also demonstrated that producers in developing economies could establish internationally trusted emissions-reporting systems by investing in monitoring infrastructure, strengthening reporting capabilities and subjecting their 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 was independently assured by DNV in accordance with ISO 14064.

The company, he said, had deployed site-wide optical gas imaging and a structured Leak Detection and Repair programme, while it was also progressively introducing continuous monitoring and real-time dashboards across its plant and vessels.

“Credible measurement is a function of commitment and not a function of geography and NLNG has proved it can be done in Africa,” Falade said.

He said the company had not waited for perfect infrastructure before beginning its methane-reduction efforts, instead prioritising credible measurement, investing in appropriate technologies and strengthening reporting through independent verification.

Falade said methane reduction was also 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.

On Nigeria’s wider gas industry, he said NLNG’s longstanding role in monetising gas that would otherwise have been flared had contributed to the reduction of the country’s gas-flaring rate from over 65 per cent to under 20 per cent.

He described the conversion of previously wasted gas into a marketable product as the original commercial case for emissions abatement.

Falade also said the importance of emissions data was extending beyond plant operations, as methane intensity increasingly affected procurement decisions, financing and buyer confidence.

For NLNG, he said this had necessitated extending methane measurement and reduction efforts across its supply chain.

Through its formal Scope 3 Advocacy Plan, he said the company engages feed-gas suppliers and contractors on measuring, disclosing and reducing emissions. NLNG 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 across jurisdictions, arguing that differences in measurement methodologies and reporting requirements could make enforcement uneven and hinder meaningful comparisons.

“The industry does not need weaker standards; it needs stronger, shared ones backed by real measurement,” he said.

Addressing the balance between emissions reduction, energy access and affordability, Falade said NLNG’s operations supported Nigeria’s targets of achieving net-zero emissions by 2060 and ending routine gas flaring by 2030.

He, however, stressed that emissions reduction should not be pursued at the expense of the energy needs of households and businesses in developing economies.

“Developing economies cannot be asked to choose between economic development and emissions reduction. Both must progress together,” he said.

Falade said the approach required by the industry was straightforward: measure gas losses credibly, invest in recovering lost gas and apply consistent standards throughout 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 energy economist Dr Carole Nakhle of Crystol Energy.

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