The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has commenced shipment of Liquefied Natural Gas cargoes to Japan and China on a Delivered Ex-Ship basis.

It said the move was in line with its strategic vision to be a dynamic and reliable global energy supplier of choice.

The company’s spokesperson, Olufemi Soneye, said in a statement issued on Monday that NNPC achieved the milestone through the collaboration of two of its downstream subsidiaries.

He named the subsidiaries to include NNPC LNG Ltd and NNPC Shipping Ltd – which delivered its first DES LNG cargo from the 174,000m³ LNG vessel Grazyna Gesicka at Futtsu, Japan, on June 27, 2024.

“Since then, it has expanded its footprint to China with the delivery of one LNG cargo on DES basis,” Soneye stated.

Delivered Ex-Ship is an international commercial term that requires the seller to deliver the products/goods at a specific port.

The seller takes responsibility for the shipping and insurance for the products/goods until they get to the specified port of delivery.

It requires expertise and a higher level of efficiency to execute than the Free on-board system.

NNPC Ltd has been involved in LNG trading since 2021 with its first LNG cargo sale in November of that year. It has since traded over 20 cargoes into the European and Asian markets on FOB basis.

Speaking on the development, the Executive President, Downstream, Mr Dapo Segun, said, “The DES system, apart from being more financially rewarding, allows NNPC Ltd inroads into the downstream segment of the LNG sector.

“It positions NNPC to capture more market shares while building in-house capacity and ensuring that global customers are familiar with the NNPC Ltd brand.”

The collaboration between NNPC LNG Ltd and NNPC Shipping Ltd in executing the LNG supplies on DES basis has strengthened the latter’s position as a world-class shipping provider in the LNG sector, the company stated.

“NNPC Shipping intends to build a shipping portfolio (including owned vessels) so that we can provide our sister company and other clients all the shipping flexibility they need,” the Managing Director of NNPC Shipping, Panos Gliatis, said.

NNPC LNG Ltd, in collaboration with NNPC Shipping Ltd, is scheduled to deliver at least two more LNG cargoes to the Asian market on DES basis by November. Many more orders are expected before the end of the year, according to the national oil firm.