Cameroon's liquefied natural gas (LNG) export revenues decreased in 2025, reaching CFA 350.2 billion, according to the latest report from the National Institute of Statistics (INS) [cite: ]. This represents an 8.1% decrease compared to 2024, marking the lowest level since 2022 [cite: ].
The INS indicates a downward trend in LNG revenues over the past four years. After peaking at CFA 622 billion in 2022, revenues fell to CFA 421 billion in 2023 and CFA 381 billion in 2024 [cite: ]. In 2025, LNG contributed 11.4% to Cameroon's total export revenues [cite: ]. These revenues primarily originate from the floating liquefaction unit located off the coast of Kribi [cite: ].
Cameroon began producing LNG in March 2018, through a partnership between Perenco, the Société Nationale des Hydrocarbures (SNH), and Golar LNG [cite: ]. The consortium deployed the Hilli Episeyo floating unit, with an initial capacity of 1.2 million tons, later increased to 1.4 million tons [cite: ].
Overall, Cameroon's export revenues also decreased by 5.2% in 2025, reaching CFA 3,084 billion [cite: ]. This decline is attributed to the decrease in revenues from hydrocarbons, notably a 29.6% drop for crude oil and 8.1% for LNG [cite: ]. However, exports of raw cocoa beans saw an increase of 18.7%, partially mitigating this effect [cite: ].
In the first quarter of 2025, hydrocarbon exports generated CFA 343 billion, with CFA 212 billion from crude oil and CFA 122 billion from LNG, the latter showing a 14.7% increase compared to the previous year. Despite a 14.4% decrease in oil revenues due to lower production, LNG volumes increased by 10.3%.
The hydrocarbon sector posted a net trade surplus of CFA 164 billion in the first quarter of 2025, despite the decline in crude oil export revenues. This surplus is due to a sharp decrease in imports.
Cameroon aims to increase its LNG production through capacity expansion projects, notably via the Hilli Episeyo floating unit, whose production could reach 1.6 million tons per year. However, the Hilli Episeyo unit is expected to cease operations in Cameroon in December 2026 and be transferred to Argentina for a new LNG project. The country aims for a production of 500,000 metric tons of bananas per year by 2030.
