The Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mallam Mele Kyari, has said Nigeria is committed to reducing its carbon emissions to net-zero by 2060.
He made this known at a seminar organised by the FIRST Exploration and Petroleum Development Company Limited (FIRST E&P), to mark its 10th anniversary in Lagos.
The seminar was themed: ‘Scarcity in Abundance: “How Gas Can Enable Energy Access in Nigeria and Africa.’
Kyari, who was represented by the Executive Director, Finance & Accounts/CFO, NNPC, Umar Ajiya, noted that in recent times, developed nations are clamouring for a cleaner and healthy environment, which however, poses a threat to emerging and developing oil countries, especially nations that are dependent on oil like Nigeria. He however assured that the government was ready to speed up the identification and development of both existing and new gas resources.
“With the Nigeria gas transportation network code established, Nigeria seeks to achieve significant reduction in gas flaring and create a conducive environment for investors through the introduction of an appropriate institutional legal, regulatory and commercial framework for the gas sector as well as establish strong linkages for the gas sector to power agriculture and transporting the industry. The NNPC will continue to support these gas aspirations by increasing gas penetration as this in the long run will diversify Africa’s energy supply links and improve security of supply,” Ajiya disclosed.
In similar vein, the Deputy Managing Director, Falcon Corporation, Mrs. Audrey Joe-Ezigbo, said natural gas remains a singular resource and viable tool the country could leverage to create change across various sectors.
“We have, no doubt, seen a lot of very high level of stakeholder’s engagement in the last few years, but what we have not seen is the actual progress to bite the bullet and implement the outcomes of engagements such as this gathering presents without politicising the recommendations due to a lot of policy inconsistencies, looking away from these situations and not dealing with consequential realities we are faced with.
If you think about the whole decade of gas programme and the objectives surrounding it, you will be marveled on what people can do with gas as an enabler of industrialisation in the economy,” Joe-Ezigbo said.
Reiterating FIRST E&P’s commitment to thought leadership role in the area of advancing gas energy access in Nigeria and Africa, the Managing Director/CEO, FIRST E&P, Mr. Ademola Adeyemi-Bero, said that the expected growth in domestic demand will create significant opportunities for gas by 2030.
According to him, the run up to 2030 will be a decade of accelerated growth for gas as domestic demand grows from 30 to 60 percent of total demand, which will create a supply gap of up to 10bcf.
He noted that this shift in market dynamics will expand opportunities across the value chain in upstream gas to fill the supply gas and infrastructure to transport and treat the wet gas. However, these opportunities can only be unlocked by addressing the massive infrastructure gaps and pricing barriers that currently limit the growth of gas.
In his welcome address, the Chairman of FIRST E&P, Mr. Odein Ajumogobia, said gas is the future of Nigeria and Africa which is why FIRST E&P is leading the discussions and urging all oil and gas industry players to see gas as being more than a transition fuel for the continent and which can chart a new course for economic prosperity for Nigeria and Africa.
“We at FIRST E&P are fully committed to playing a vital role in increasing energy access in Nigeria and by extension, Africa. We are focused on growing and maintaining daily oil production from 40,000bopd to 60,000bopd while setting up a shallow offshore-based midstream gas business that will be fully operational by 2025. With this, our future Gas Hub is expected to provide gas to the domestic market and address the energy deficit,” he added, adding that “today, we are celebrating a decade of successful partnerships and collaborations as we remain committed to increasing our contribution to Nigeria’s energy needs in the coming years.”