By Adedapo Adesanya
The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mr Mele Kyari has advocated a differentiated approach to attaining energy transition for the African continent.
Speaking during a Leadership Dialogue Session at the ongoing CERAWeek Conference in Houston, United States, on Tuesday, Mr Kyari, said energy transition is a very difficult subject for countries especially in Sub-Saharan Africa because geographically, the situations are different as a number of the countries are dealing with energy availability, not transition, and energy availability is closely linked to energy security.
“The world has seen all the challenges thrown up recently by geopolitical events. It is clear that before the energy transition, countries must first attain security of energy supply in their countries. You cannot talk about energy security when it is not even available. In most ]Sub-Saharan Africa, 70 per cent of the population don’t have access to clean cooking fuels. Therefore, you must fill the supply gap first,” the GCEO stated.
He said although people talk about using renewables to close the energy transition gap, the money for the renewables too must be found.
“If you insist on completing substitution today, then you have to deal with the problem of supply. For us today, the transition must be differentiated. Even if Africa decides to switch off its fossil fuels, it only accounts for just about 3% of the entire global emissions,” the NNPC helmsman added.
He said Nigeria will be utilising gas in its energy mix and revealed that the Final Investment Decision (FID) on the Nigeria Morocco Gas Pipeline (NMGP) Project will be taken in December 2024.
He said that the state oil firm’s focus is to build its capacity to deliver gas to the domestic market and beyond, adding that as a gas-endowed country, Nigeria must utilize its abundant gas resources to provide the alternative fuel that it needs.
“We understand the arguments towards attaining energy transition, but the cheapest way to achieve that is through gas. We see clear opportunities that gas creates. Today we are building several trunklines and other gas infrastructure that will supply gas to some gas networks,” Kyari noted.
The GCEO said there is an ongoing engagement on the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline Project (NMGP), which is at an advanced stage, to create a pipeline that will pass through thirteen African countries and to Europe.
He observed that the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 has reformed Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, by ensuring that the NNPC emerged as a fully commercial entity that is not only accountable and responsible to its shareholders but also one that is on the pathway of getting quoted on the stock exchange.
Mr Kyari said Nigeria is fighting the menace of crude oil theft frontally and through the joint efforts of government and private security agencies, there have been some reasonable improvements in the restoration of the nation’s crude oil production.
“It is an abnormal situation, but it is well within control. We were able to recover some of our production and build back confidence so that investors could bring in their money. We are also doing global advocacy to governments and institutions because stolen oil has to be taken to the market,” he stated.
He said an example of the improved security situation was when in 2022, Nigeria’s production fell below 1 million barrels per day, which has now been restored to 1.7 million barrels per day.
Aduragbemi Omiyale 
Business Post Contributor