Portugal to import more US, Nigerian LNG, aims to end Russian supply By Reuters

LISBON (Reuters) – Portugal plans to increase purchases of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States and Nigeria as it aims to offset already dwindling supplies from Russia, Environment Minister Maria da Graca Carvalho said on Tuesday.

Portugal imported 49,141 gigawatt hours (GWh) of natural gas in 2024, of which about 96% is LNG, data from electricity and gas grid operator REN shows.

Nigeria accounted for 51% of those LNG supplies, with about 40% from the US and about 4.4% from Russia.

In 2021, Russia accounted for 15% of Portugal’s LNG supply.

After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the European Union imposed targeted sanctions on Russian oil and gas imported through pipelines, but did not prevent the import of LNG transported by ships to Europe.

“Portugal is now practically independent of Russian gas, but we want to reduce this figure even more by importing more gas from Nigeria and the United States,” said Graca Carvalho during a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, reports the ECO economic website.

US President Donald Trump has threatened the European Union with tariffs if the countries do not increase their purchases of American energy sources.

ECO said the minister urged greater cooperation within the 27-nation European Union to ensure energy independence and security, saying Iberia was still an “energy island” because “it has been difficult to build interconnections with France”.