-24.6%: this is the expected decline in Cameroon’s oil and gas activity in 2027. Main cause: the decrease in gas production. The shock is immediate because after 8 years of operation, the Hilli Episeyo has left Kribi. The floating unit produced 1.2 million tons of LNG per year with a 100% availability rate.
After eight years of service off the coast of Kribi, the Hilli Episeyo floating liquefaction unit, operated by Golar LNG, has left Cameroonian waters. With it goes the country’s only natural gas liquefaction infrastructure.
Throughout the duration of its contract, the Hilli Episeyo showed 100% availability. A reliability record. The unit produced an average of 1.2 million tons of LNG per year. This gas was intended for export and directly contributed to state revenues and the valorization of associated Cameroonian gas.
Its departure therefore marks the end of a cycle for Cameroon, the only sub-Saharan African country to have experimented with large-scale floating liquefaction.
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This exit comes at the worst possible time. According to projections, Cameroon’s oil and gas activity is expected to decline by 24.6% in 2027. The main factor: the decrease in national gas production.
Without an on-site liquefaction unit, Cameroon loses a key outlet to monetize its gas. Yet global demand for LNG remains strong and prices are remunerative. The country will therefore have to either renegotiate a new agreement with a floating operator or accelerate longer-term onshore projects.
The government has not yet communicated on the replacement strategy. The stakes are twofold: securing state revenues and avoiding flaring of gas produced by oil fields.
For experts, the departure of the Hilli Episeyo raises the question of energy sovereignty. Cameroon has significant gas reserves but lacks infrastructure to process and export them continuously.
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Meanwhile, the void left by the Hilli Episeyo is already weighing on 2027 forecasts. And it reminds of the urgency to invest so as not to see the country’s gas potential remain underexploited.
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