The Group Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, (NNPCL), Mallam Mele Kyari has disclosed that the country has the potential to upside its natural gas reserves from the current 209.5tcf to 600tcf.
Kyari stated this at the 46th edition of the Nigerian Annual International Conference & Exhibition (NAICE) of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), with the theme, “Balancing Energy Accessibility, Affordability, and Sustainability: Strategic Options for Africa”, on Monday in Abuja.
He noted that the nation’s gas resource was enormous to drive a cleaner and affordable energy vision, against other alternative energy sources such as solar and wind that were faced with technology limitations.
“Today, Nigeria has about 209.5 Trillion Cubic Feet of natural gas reserves with a potential upside of up to 600 TCF, and this is an enormous resource that would drive cleaner and affordable energy vision.
“Other alternative energy sources such as solar and wind are faced with technology limitations. They are still not affordable and cannot meet the high energy demands of our industries, cities, and remote environments”, he said.
Represented by the Executive Vice President, Upstream, NNPCL, Adokiye Tombomieye, Kyari said, Nigeria is not transitioning away from the hydrocarbons; however, hopes to see an increase in the footprint of alternative cleaner energy sources in the foreseeable future amid fossil fuel dominance.
“We use what we have to get to our desired destination. This is the reason that NNPC Limited has identified gas as a transition fuel and we are expanding our gas development and gas infrastructure across the country to increase energy accessibility”, he added.
The NNPCL boss said, the company plans to sustain and increase its aggressive gas development and gas transportation projects to achieve affordable and clean energy.
The GCEO said, to achieve all of these, there was the need to further deepen collaboration amongst all the relevant stakeholders; government security agencies, host communities, and others to enhance energy security.
In his Goodwill Message, the Authority Chief Executive, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Engr. Farouk Ahmed said, the energy sector in Nigeria and across Africa faces an existential challenge of the urgent need to transit from a fossil fuel-dependent economy to a decarbonized economy.
Engr. Ahmed said, the NMDPRA is galvanizing the sector by addressing the trilemma of energy accessibility, affordability, and sustainability by unlocking the full potential of natural gas which is the cleanest fossil fuel so far and has multiplier effects on all sectors of the economy, from agriculture, manufacturing, power, petrochemicals.
He noted that the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline and Tran-Saharan Gas Pipeline are key midstream gas projects that when completed would place Nigeria as a major gas exporter to West Africa and Europe and build stronger ties between Nigeria, West Africa, and Europe.
Also, he said, that the PIA has created the Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund (MDGIF), domiciled in the Authority – a key lever and enabler for de-risking investments in the midstream and downstream gas value chain, adding that the MDGIF was created to cater for the gap in gas infrastructure in many parts of the country and encourage local participation in gas-based industrialization aimed at deepening domestic gas utilisation.
