By Adewale Sanyaolu

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited says it has sold $1 billion worth of natural gas to Portugal this year.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NNPC Limited, Mallam Mele Kyari, stated this on the sidelines of President Muhammadu Buhari’s official visit to Portugal.

‘‘This year alone, we have sold over a billion dollar worth of natural gas to Portugal,’’ said Kyari.

The NNPC  boss recalled the age-long energy partnership between the two countries, stressing that Nigeria supplies 70 per cent energy imports to the European Union.

He disclosed that there are ample opportunities to grow energy supply to Portugal as Nigeria has invested in critical infrastructure to ensure domestic gas availability and increase gas supply to the international market.

In a related development, chief commodities analyst at Swedish bank SEB Group , Bjarne Schieldrop,  has said oil prices are likely to soar beyond the $200 per barrel if G7 manages to cap the price of Russian crude oil.

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Schieldrop  said in no uncertain terms that the G7’s price capping proposal was a “recipe for disaster” given the current stress that the oil market is under.

The G7 leaders agreed on Tuesday to study ways to cap the price of Russian oil sold internationally and are seeking support among “like-minded” nations.

It was one of the critical items to be discussed at this week’s G7 meeting as the group tries to find creative ways to lower energy prices for themselves and maintain adequate crude supplies from Russia—while simultaneously punishing Russia in what many see as an impossible task.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen continued to put pressure on European countries to support a price cap.

According to Schieldrop, the plan seems “neat on paper, but it sounds like a recipe for disaster right now,” given the strong demand for crude oil and low supplies that so far given Russia the upper hand in the market. Russia could, the analyst argued, choose not to sell the oil at a capped price—a decision that could lead to Russia’s production falling by as much as 2 million barrels per day.

Russia’s crude and condensate production rose in June by 5 per cent to 10.7 million bpd, according to Kommersant sources—a figure that includes between 800,000 and 900,000 bpd of condensate, which is not included in the OPEC+ agreement. But Russia’s oil exports have slipped 3.3 per cent in June with the rise of domestic refining demand. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said that Russia would raise its production again in July.