The twin impacts of energy poverty and climate change have wedged Nigeria between conflicting needs for decarbonisation and energy security through technologies that deliver both simultaneously.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited declared at the Practical Nigerian Content (PNC) Forum 2022 that it would explore, support and work with indigenous oil service companies that would domicile technologies for decarbonising available energy resources and align the country with the global trend for low carbon fuels.

The Oracle Today reports that the annual PNC Forum is hosted by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) to explore home grown options in producing goods and services used in driving the country’s domestic economic development.

The Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Limited, Mallam Mele Kyari, who spoke at the spotlight session for industry leaders, declared that Nigeria is suffering the double tragedy of acute per capita energy deficits and ravaging impact of climate change,

Mallam Kyari said climate change and desertification are attributable to the prevailing internal migration associated clashes for land across the country. He made it clear that human activities are responsible for climate change, adding that the global movement for energy transition from fossil sources present key internal capacity challenges in evolving technologies that reduce the footprints of the petroleum industry.  

He said that funding fossil fuel investments has become critical for resource based economies in order to enable them produce transition fuel. He added that whereas the biggest carbon emitters reside outside Africa, the continent continues to suffer the impacts of global emissions.

 He said the national oil company has already activated plans for the country to achieve net zero carbon emissions in the industrial sector by 2050 while riding on fossil fuel.

The national oil company, he said, stands with other African entities demanding energy justice from the civilized world in order to afford Africa energy security.  He said climate justice should assist Nigeria fund investments in natural gas as the country’s transition fuel.

He made it clear that gas remains the easiest, cheapest and quickest clean energy available to the country. He added that the country’s immediate energy transition strategy is to switch from petrol to autogas in preparation for electric vehicles.

Mallam Kyari also stated government’s intention to achieve gas supply sufficiency to all critical segments of the economy in the next three years, adding that the industry would leverage the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) meet gas demands from power sector and other industries.

To enhance delivery of gas to boost economic growth in a sustainable manner, Mallam Kyari explained, NNPC is developing key transmission infrastructure with focus on internal energy supply sustainability. He added that the biggest opportunity for the private sector is to focus on harnessing the country’s natural gas resources to capture market returns.

 He pointed at issues of commercial arrangement governing the domestic gas market, and declared that graduated price adjustments are underway to resolve all illiquidity and investment return concerns raised by players in the sector.

Also speaking in the same vein at a different panel at the conference, the head of investment unit of NNPC Limited, Engr Bala Wunti, threw the gas technology challenge at indigenous service providers in the industry. He said gas would still be relevant in the global energy mix in the next century.

He pointed out that production of different strands of natural gas including compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), liquefied natural gas (LNG) and other specifications would now form the focus of opportunities in the petroleum industry.

To develop the domestic appetite for consumption of natural gas, he stressed, focus must shift from exporting raw commodity from the upstream petroleum industry to exporting finished products from the midstream and downstream sections of the industry.   

“Every player in the upstream must reposition to participate in the Decade of Gas,” Engr Wunti stated, adding that investors must intentionally perceive gas production as business.

He said the NNPC Limited is willing to collaborate with local service providers willing to lead technological innovation in gas processing. He added that the industry is working on issues that border on size and credibility of the domestic market to create business basis for investments from the private sector.

Engr Wunti made it clear that NNPC is shifting its fuel strategy for the country from liquids to gas, pointing at the global movement towards net zero emissions and best environmental and social governance (ESG) processes.

At the production sites, Engr Wunti said that government is pushing to enhance environmental responsibility through carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) practices to cut the footprints of the industry in the atmosphere.