Business

Vitol sees gas and LNG as key growth driver as oil demand peak looms

Vitol’s future growth will increasingly be driven by gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG), especially in emerging markets, as peak oil demand approaches, its head of gas and power investments said on Thursday. Steven Brann said that LNG and gas, coupled with related asset acquisitions, will offer the best growth opportunities for Vitol as the world moves towards cleaner-burning fuels and oil demand peaks in the next decade.

“Our portfolio as a company will increasingly be gassy and asset-heavy and LNG is a means of moving that gas around the world,” Brann said.

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“Africa is important and LNG in and around Africa is an important part of our growth strategy.”

Brann added that Vitol had been in talks with producers in Nigeria to monetise flared natural gas while also looking to help industrial companies to switch fuel inputs, converting from diesel to trucked LNG or LPG. “We already distribute LPG by truck across Nigeria,” Brann said.

Vitol traded 7 million tonnes of LNG in 2017 and is looking to build LNG import terminals in Bangladesh and potentially Pakistan. The trader is also in talks to buy LNG supply from Equatorial Guinea