The Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) has disclosed that its new boil-off gas compressor and start-up gas recovery projects are each expected to reduce methane emissions by approximately 10–15 per cent, while generating positive financial returns over their operational lifecycles.
The company said the projects demonstrate that methane abatement can deliver both environmental benefits and commercial value, urging the global gas industry to treat methane reduction as a business priority rather than viewing it solely as an environmental cost.
NLNG’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Adeleye Falade, disclosed this at the Gastech 2026 Exhibition and Conference in Bangkok during a panel session titled, “Capturing the Lost Opportunity: Driving Global Alignment on Methane Abatement Across Natural Gas Supply Chains.”
Falade said the financial case for methane reduction was straightforward because methane released into the atmosphere represents gas that could otherwise have been captured, sold and converted into revenue.
He said NLNG’s strategy was based on accurately measuring methane losses, identifying the sources of emissions and directing investment towards technologies and interventions capable of preventing leaks and recovering otherwise lost gas.
“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,” Falade said.
According to him, the company’s experience showed that investments in methane reduction could pay for themselves while simultaneously improving emissions performance, plant efficiency and asset reliability.
“The most compelling business case is the simplest one: the projects that cut our methane also pay for themselves,” he said.
“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 credible measurement remained central to NLNG’s methane-reduction strategy, enabling the company to establish the scale and location of losses, prioritise interventions and subsequently measure the effectiveness of investments.
He explained that the company had strengthened its measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) framework through monitoring infrastructure, enhanced reporting capabilities and independent scrutiny.
NLNG has achieved Gold Standard recognition under the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP) 2.0 framework and is the first company in Africa to achieve Level 5 methane emissions reporting, according to Falade.
He added that NLNG’s MRV system is independently assured by DNV in accordance with ISO 14064, providing additional assurance around the credibility of its emissions data.
The company’s methane management programme 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 emissions dashboards across its facilities and vessels.
Falade said the experience demonstrated that credible emissions measurement was achievable in developing economies and should not be constrained by geographical considerations.
“Credible measurement is a function of commitment and not a function of geography,” he said, adding that NLNG had demonstrated that high standards could be achieved in Africa.
He said the company had deliberately moved ahead without waiting for perfect infrastructure, instead prioritising credible measurement, deploying appropriate technologies and strengthening reporting through independent verification.
According to him, the objective should be to raise global standards across the gas industry rather than lower expectations for producers operating in emerging markets.
Falade also disclosed that methane reduction considerations were being incorporated into the design and development 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.
He said integrating emissions management into new projects would help ensure that future production growth was accompanied by improved environmental performance.
Beyond its own operations, Falade said NLNG’s gas monetisation activities had contributed to Nigeria’s efforts to reduce gas flaring, noting that the country’s gas-flaring rate had fallen from more than 65 per cent to below 20 per cent.
He described the conversion of gas that would otherwise have been flared into commercially valuable products as an early example of the business case for emissions reduction.
“Converting wasted gas into a marketable product was the original commercial case for emissions abatement,” he said.
The NLNG chief executive said the commercial relevance of methane management was also expanding beyond operational efficiency, as methane intensity increasingly influences procurement decisions, access to financing and buyer confidence in international energy markets.
He said this had made it necessary for NLNG to extend its methane-management discipline beyond its facilities and into its wider supply chain.
Through its formal Scope 3 Advocacy Plan, the company engages feed-gas suppliers and contractors to measure, disclose and reduce emissions associated with their operations.
Falade said NLNG also obtains verified upstream emissions data from its feed-gas producers and incorporates environmental, social and governance considerations, alongside emissions criteria, into its supplier selection and evaluation processes.
He called for greater consistency in methane regulations and reporting requirements across jurisdictions, arguing that differences in measurement methodologies and disclosure requirements could make enforcement uneven and undermine meaningful comparisons between operators.
“The industry does not need weaker standards; it needs stronger, shared ones backed by real measurement,” he said.
On the balance between climate objectives, energy access and affordability, Falade said emissions-reduction efforts must be pursued alongside the need to provide reliable and affordable energy to households and businesses in developing economies.
He noted that NLNG’s operations support Nigeria’s broader targets of achieving net-zero emissions by 2060 and ending routine gas flaring by 2030.
According to him, developing economies should not be forced to choose between economic development and emissions reduction, as both objectives could be pursued simultaneously through better measurement, technology deployment and more efficient utilisation of natural gas.
“Developing economies cannot be asked to choose between economic development and emissions reduction.
Both must progress together,” he said.
Falade said the approach adopted by NLNG could provide a practical framework for the wider gas industry by combining credible measurement of methane losses, investment in gas recovery and leak prevention, and consistent emissions standards across the value chain.
The Gastech panel also featured Zubin Bamji of the World Bank, Niels Dijksman of Brunei LNG and Hiroyuki Mori of JOGMEC.
The session was moderated by Dr. Carole Nakhle, an energy economist with Crystol Energy.
