- Mallam Mele Kyari has made a case for Nigeria to adopt a more gradual and flexible approach to the energy transition.
- Financing oil and gas projects have become more complicated as banks, multilateral lenders, and investors divert capital from fossil fuels to renewable energies.
Mallam Mele Kyari, The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd, while presenting a paper at the 40th yearly international conference and exhibition of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists, made a case for Nigeria to adopt a more gradual and flexible approach to the energy transition.
In His paper titled “Global Energy Transition and the Future of the Oil and Gas Industry: Evolving Regulations, Emerging Concepts, and Opportunities”, He pointed to the fact that rapid demographic changes will continue to drive up demand for energy services across Africa in the coming decades.
The CEO of NNPC was represented by the Executive Vice President, Upstream, Engr. Adokiye Tombomieye. In his remarks on behalf of the CEO, he said, “oil demand in Africa stood at an average of 4.36 million barrels per day in 2022. It is, therefore, our firm position that fossil fuel will continue to contribute more than 50 per cent to the energy mix in Africa and possibly the rest of the world. Furthermore, recent happenings in the Russian-Ukraine crises have seen the resurgence of the need for fossil fuels and, in some cases, adverse use of high-carbon generating energy sources like coal; this also points to the fact that energy transition implementation has to be gradual.”
Kyari also added that. “However, there is also a need to recognise that while aggressive energy transition programs are being pursued in developed countries, many emerging countries, especially those with hydrocarbon-dependent economies like Nigeria, require a more gradual and flexible approach to the energy transition mantra”. In addition, financing oil and gas projects have become more complicated as banks, multilateral lenders, and investors divert capital from fossil fuels to renewable energies.