Nigeria’s liquefied natural gas deliveries rose by around 30 percent year on year between January and October 2026 to their highest level since 2020, supported by improved feedgas availability and greater prioritisation of supply to the liquefaction complex, the International Energy Agency wrote in its Global Gas Security Review 2026. The increase added about 5 billion cubic metres to global supply in a period when global LNG trade dropped by about 11 billion cubic metres.
The extra volumes lifted utilisation at Nigeria LNG’s six train liquefaction complex above 80 percent, which means the recovery came from feeding existing infrastructure more reliably rather than from new plant. Malaysia added about 4 billion cubic metres, a 14 percent increase, and the IEA counts Nigeria and Malaysia as the largest contributors among existing producers, while North America accounted for 85 percent of additional volumes supplied overall. The recovery is separate from the Train 7 expansion, which Okay News reports entered pre-commissioning in 2026 with start up targeted for the end of 2027, which would raise nameplate capacity from 22 million tonnes a year to 30 million tonnes.
The domestic picture did not improve at the same pace. Gas supplied to Nigeria’s domestic market increased in the first half of 2026 but met only about 65 percent of producers’ domestic supply obligations, which the IEA attributes to persistent infrastructure, payment and market constraints. Nigerian gas demand is expected to rise by about 2 percent in 2026, led by power generation, followed by fertiliser and petrochemical production, industrial heat and the oil and gas sector.
Africa wide, the IEA forecasts gas production rising to 248 billion cubic metres in 2026 from 240 billion a year earlier, with consumption up 5 percent to 186 billion cubic metres from 178 billion, driven mainly by power sector needs. Nigeria remains sub Saharan Africa’s largest gas consuming country.