Nigeria Content Online

Nigerian
liquefied natural gas tanker the LNG Imo, which had been scheduled to
arrive at Britain’s Dragon import terminal on August 23, has been
re-routed to Brazil, according to market sources.

The vessel, which
can carry around 148,000 cubic metres of super-cooled gas, was listed
on the Milford Haven Port Authority arrivals list until Friday, but has
been removed.

Terminal operator
BG Group, has also offered the August 23 berthing slot at Dragon up for
auction to third parties, indicating it no longer expects to use it,
according to the Dragon website. A company spokeswoman declined to
comment.

AIS Live ship
tracking data on Reuters last showed the tanker at the Nigerian loading
terminal at Bonny on August 9. The port authority websites of the two
possible destination ports in Brazil — Pecem and Rio de Janeiro — do
not list the LNG Imo on their arrivals tables on Friday afternoon.

Brazilian
state-controlled oil and gas company Petrobras, which sources said was
the buyer of the Nigerian cargo, operates the Pecem LNG import terminal
in north-eastern Brazil and the Guanabara LNG terminal near Rio.

AIS Live shows another Nigerian gas carrier, the LNG Bayelsa, arrived at the Guanabara terminal on August 18.

Although a surge in
UK gas prices from March to mid July saw Nigerian LNG delivered to
Britain for the first time, a slide in prices since late July has made
Britain a less attractive destination.

Calculations by leading LNG market consultants Waterborne show Asian
markets and Spain to be much more profitable destinations than Britain
at present. No comparative data for Brazil is available.