With the commissioning of a new liquefaction train on Bonny Island, Nigeria now has six trains within its territory and has become the world’s third country in LNG production capacity.

However, the fact that the gas associated with the oil is being burnt off means this is not its true position. Shell intends to terminate this practice by the end of 2009, as soon as the natural gas can be disposed of commercially. Cedigaz estimates that the volume of gas produced in the world’s leading country is about 535 bcm, an amount which covered 83% of its gas needs in 2007.

2007 also saw a slight decrease in production in Russia (1%). Total production in the CIS countries will be in line with that of 2006.

In Norway, the first production of natural gas from the Ormen Lange field was expected to start in October 2007. Work finally went ahead of schedule, and the deposit began producing gas on 13 September. It is expected to achieve full performance in 2010. Production is being routed to the onshore treatment plant at Nyhamna, where it joins the Norwegian gas transport network (the Gasled pipeline), which links to the Continent and the United Kingdom.

In Puerto Rico, the Peñuelas terminal (operated by Gas Natural) will be busier in 2008, supplying gas to a combined cycle plant situated in Aguirre.

In Trinidad and Tobago, the option of increasing LNG production has been set aside for the time being until new significant reserves are identified. The objective is greater use of natural gas by the country’s population, in parallel with a maintained high export level.

Finally, a brief note to say that China is the fourth country in the world to extract what is termed flammable ice (gas hydrates) behind Japan, the USA and India. Gas hydrates are a crystalline ice compound containing methane molecules, the main component of natural gas. Some analysts maintain that the world reserves of carbon hydrates could be twice the presently-known reserves of coal, oil and natural gas.