Nigeria will not abandon gas while searching for renewable energy - Experts

Wed, Dec 15, 2021
By editor
5 MIN READ

Oil & Gas

By Anthony Isibor.

THE Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB, says that the country will not abandon its gas resources in search of renewable energy.

Abdulmalik Halilu, general manager, research statistics and development of the NCDMB, told the workshop organized for media stakeholders in Lagos on Tuesday, December 14, 2021, that Nigeria is one of the leading OPEC countries with over 37 billion barrels of oil and over 206 trillion standard Cubic Feet of gas and ranks among the top 10 OPEC countries.

Speaking on the theme of the workshop “Sustaining Nigeria content amidst shifting energy landscape”, Halilu noted that the media is responsible for shaping public advocacy and so NCDMB attaches high premium to the media.

 “Even as we speak about energy transition, Nigeria has taken a decision along with our fellow African countries that ours is a two-point approach, some will prefer to call it energy addition. Because we already have our gas resources, we are going to deepen our gas utilization; we are not going to abandon gas.

“It is so fundamental to the power sector, to the nation, in manufacturing the plastics that you use, and to so many other factors.

“But we are going to develop our gas resources in a very responsible and sustainable manner. So we have included the need for us to deepen research in de-carbonization technology so that as we develop our new oil fields, we are focusing on de-carbonization technology so that it is less environmental impact.

“We are also investing in carbon capture technology as an integral part of field development project of our gas resources.  These carbon interventions will help us to not only reduce carbon emissions but also to help us contribute to the net fuel carbon target. We also said that by 2060, we should be held accountable for our role in this space,” he said.

According to him, Nigeria has all the resources needed to transit towards renewable energy, it does not have the local capacity needed to produce the technology to harness these resources, thus the need to continue to promote local content through investment in Research and Development, R&D.

“But most importantly, in the renewable energy discussion, yes we have sunlight, yes we have hydropower, yes we have wind, but we need research, we need technology to be able to harness these resources.

 “So we have also taken a decision to invest in R&D so that we don’t continue to depend on imported tools to tap our sunlight

He added that investment in areas such as manufacturing, fabrication, design engineering, project management, oil services, among others would enable more Nigerian companies to become major players in the sector.

To this end, he said the NCDMB had in 2020 initiated the $50 million Nigerian Content Research and Development Fund to support the companies.

In his speech, Ginah O Ginah, general manager, Corporate Communications and Zonal Coordination Division, said that the workshop had become a major activity in the board’s calendar because of the critical role played by the media in Nigeria’s content development and propagation.

Ginah, who was represented by Naboth Onyesoh, manager, Corporate Communications of NCDMB, said the oil and gas industry was very important to the nation’s economy, hence the need to have more local players in the sector.

He explained that NCDMB was established to drive indigenous participation in the oil and gas space and was working towards achieving 70 percent Nigerian content by 2030.

He, therefore, urged the media to promote the local content agenda and carry out whistle-blowing role by exposing non-compliance activities by players in the industry through investigative journalism.

“The board, since inception in 2010, had identified the media as one of the most important stakeholders in its implementation of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act.

“This collaboration is even more important as the world moves towards energy transition which is likely to impact Nigeria’s economy.

He noted that the NCDMB has aligned itself with the federal government’s plan to leverage Nigeria’s gas resources as the nation’s transition energy through the declaration of 2021 to 2030 as the Decade of Gas.

He said the NCDMB had made several interventions in the gas value-chain which span the development of Liquefied Petroleum Gas, LPG, storage terminals, and jetties.

Others include inland gas processing to produce LPG and propane, infrastructure for gas gathering and injection into gas pipeline networks, Compressed Natural Gas facilities and manufacturing of composite LPG cylinders.

Similarly, Akintunde Adelana, Director, Monitoring and Evaluation, NCDMB, who was represented by Dan Esueme-Kikile, noted that Nigeria has moved from 5% localization in the oil and gas industry as seen in 2010 to 95% as of today.

He said that the key thing about the oil and gas industry is not to Nigerianize the industry, but to encourage the domiciliation of facilities in-country.

He added that over the years, more Nigerians have taken over top positions in the industry that ordinarily was reserved for expatriates.

– Dec. 15, 2021 @ 09:27 GMT |

A.I

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