By Adedapo Adesanya
The Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Mr Simbi Kesiye Wabote, has argued that the clamour by developed countries to reduce carbon emissions through cutting the utilisation of fossil fuels is because they have run out of hydrocarbon reserves.
This was one of his standpoints while presenting a paper at the Society of Petroleum Engineers – Oloibiri Lecture Series and Energy Forum (SPE – OLEF) 2022 in Abuja.
He maintained that the current disruptions in the international energy industry present a unique opportunity for the Nigerian oil and gas industry to attract investments and serve as one of the leading hubs to meet global energy needs.
Speaking on the theme Global Energy Transition: Implications on Future Investments in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry, he said the rush to move the world away from fossil fuels has resulted in first world countries shifting funding away from the development of hydrocarbons toward renewable energy.
This has since caused a decline in the supply of hydrocarbons due to a lack of investments because the pace of the shift to renewable energies is unable to meet world energy demand.
He said this was not meant to be so since the alternative method of energy mix was a plausible solution.
The NCDMB Executive Secretary then outlined his perspectives on global energy transition, its implications on global energy security and investments, and the opportunities for the oil and gas industry in Nigeria.
He pointed out that the outcome of energy transitions has always been the redistribution of the constituents in the energy mix rather than the outright swap of one form of energy for another.
He decried the divestment of the IOCs and their reluctance to make further investments in oil and gas which has resulted in the repatriation of capital out of Nigeria.
Mr Wabote, however, noted that the divestments have resulted in the emergence of indigenous companies playing major roles in exploration and production activities, having acquired assets and are now responsible for the production of about fifteen per cent of the nation’s oil and more than sixty per cent of domestic gas.
This according to Mr Wabote stifled the nation’s economy of the much-needed foreign exchange and funds used as loans to acquire oil and gas assets instead of developing new production assets.
He further suggested that as the world continues to expand the options of sources of energy available for use, it should be open to welcoming new additions without discarding existing ones.
