Portugal to Increase US, Nigerian LNG Imports, Reducing Russian Gas

LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal plans to increase purchases of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States and Nigeria as it aims to end 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 around 96% was LNG, data from electricity and gas grids operator REN shows.

Nigeria accounted for 51% of those LNG deliveries, about 40% came from the United States and around 4.4% from Russia.

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

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the European Union has implemented targeted sanctions on Russian oil and gas imported through pipelines, but has not prevented the import of LNG transported by ship into Europe.

"Portugal is now practically independent of Russian gas ... but we want to reduce this figure further by importing more gas from Nigeria and the United States," Graca Carvalho told a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, according to economic website ECO.

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

ECO reported the minister urged greater cooperation within the 27-nation European Union to ensure energy independence and security, saying Iberia was still an "energy island" as it had "been difficult to build interconnections with France".

(Reporting by Sergio Goncalves; editing by Jason Neely)