Reducing methane emissions can boost a gas company’s bottom line rather than simply add to its costs, Nigeria LNG’s Managing Director and CEO Adeleye Falade told delegates at Gastech 2026 in Bangkok, arguing that every tonne of methane released into the atmosphere is effectively a lost product that should have reached buyers.
Speaking on a panel titled “Capturing the Lost Opportunity: Driving Global Alignment on Methane Abatement Across Natural Gas Supply Chains,” Falade said NLNG’s own experience shows that investing in leak prevention and gas recovery can pay for itself while simultaneously cutting emissions and improving plant efficiency.
He urged the wider industry to reframe methane reduction as a value driver rather than a burden.
He said NLNG’s approach begins with rigorous measurement of methane losses, with independent verification used to guide investment decisions and ensure credible reporting.
“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.
As evidence, he pointed to NLNG’s boil off gas compressor and start up gas recovery projects, each expected to cut methane by roughly 10 to 15 percent, with financial returns projected to exceed their costs over the projects’ lifespans.
“The most compelling business case is the simplest one: the projects that cut our methane also pay for themselves,” he said, adding that the same discipline that reduces methane also strengthens asset reliability and plant performance.
Falade, according to a statement on Wednesday by the NLNG’s General Manager, External Relations & Sustainable Development, Sophia Horsfall, said credible measurement underpins all of NLNG’s investment decisions, enabling the company to pinpoint losses, target interventions and track results.
He argued that gas producers in developing economies can build globally trusted emissions reporting systems by investing in monitoring infrastructure and submitting their data for independent scrutiny, regardless of resource constraints.
He highlighted NLNG’s Gold Standard status under the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership 2.0, noting the company was the first in Africa to reach Level 5 methane emissions reporting, with its measurement, reporting and verification system independently assured by DNV under ISO 14064.
NLNG’s methods include site wide optical gas imaging, a structured leak detection and repair programme, and the phased rollout of continuous monitoring with real time dashboards across its plant and vessels.
Falade said credible measurement depends on commitment, not geography, and that NLNG had demonstrated this without waiting for ideal infrastructure.
He noted that methane reduction is also being designed into NLNG’s Train 7 expansion, which will lift LNG production capacity from 22 million to 30 million tonnes annually.
On the national level, he credited NLNG’s role in monetising gas that would otherwise be flared with helping cut Nigeria’s flaring rate from over 65 percent to under 20 percent, calling it the original commercial case for emissions abatement.
He added that credible emissions data now shapes procurement, financing and buyer confidence, prompting NLNG to extend measurement and reduction efforts across its supply chain through its Scope 3 Advocacy Plan, which engages feed gas suppliers and contractors on emissions disclosure.
Falade called for greater regulatory consistency across jurisdictions, saying differing measurement methods make enforcement uneven.
“The industry does not need weaker standards; it needs stronger, shared ones backed by real measurement,” he said, adding that Nigeria’s goals of net zero emissions by 2060 and zero routine flaring by 2030 must advance alongside efforts to meet growing energy demand.
“Developing economies cannot be asked to choose between economic development and emissions reduction. Both must progress together,” he said.
The panel also featured Zubin Bamji of the World Bank, Niels Dijksman of Brunei LNG and Hiroyuki Mori of JOGMEC, and was moderated by energy economist Dr. Carole Nakhle of Crystol Energy.
