The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari, announced that there is at least $10 billion worth of investments currently ongoing in the energy sector to delist Nigeria from one of the most energy impoverished nations in the world.
Speaking on the second day of the Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum 2021 on “Delivering Energy Access in the Developing World,” he said Nigeria is focused on using oil and gas resources to develop infrastructure.
With significant gas reserves, Nigeria, with about $3 billion to $4 billion ongoing projects, is speeding up production for domestic use and export.
He said Nigeria is witnessing increasing household access to gas networks and natural gas in the main cities, and plans are ongoing to expand the access to rural areas.
He noted that the government’s plan to deepen domestic gas consumption led to the advent of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG). He said that it was part of the policy to deploy resources in the right places.
Excerpts from his presentation:
“We are not a petroleum country in the real sense. It’s agreed that we have the 10th largest reserve of oil and a significant gas reserve. Of course, what everybody recognises is the oil. The reality today is that we have a country in excess of 200 million people. Seventy per cent of this population is well below 30, with a growing middle class and one of the fastest-growing economies in Africa.”
“More importantly, for us today, an energy deficient country, over 60% of our country is not electrified, the poverty level is very high, extremely challenging. But so much is going on to see how we can reverse this trend. When you combine all these, you will see that as a country of focus today, many things are happening in the energy sector.”
“For instance, we are seeing investment in our energy infrastructure, especially in the area of gas in excess of $10 billion; this is ongoing. There are a number of gas-based projects about $3 billion to $5 billion dollars and some of them are at the Final Investment Decision (FID) stage.”
“The best of forecasts has said that in 30 years we will still have at least 100 million bpd of oil consumption.”
“So, oil and gas will still remain relevant in the near future, but the transition is real. What countries and nations are doing is to move towards much cleaner fuel and this cleaner fuel is clearly gas and that’s why we as a company are focused on gas resources, making sure to supply the domestic market and create opportunities for export.”
“So, what we see as an energy resource-based country is to utilise the available resources of today to create the enabling environment for growth and prosperity in the country and that clearly aligns with the reality on the ground.”
“We have significant goodwill and understanding across countries, nations and companies. For instance, we have significant engagement with the United States Department of Energy in the sense that we receive some support in our transition to cleaner fuels so that we can develop our gas infrastructure so that we move away from the liquids to gas ultimately.”
“What does this mean for a country like ours which depends on oil for cash? Obviously, we have seen how we can transit to something better for our country, so we don’t depend on that today. You may be aware that today, the country’s resources are mostly coming from taxes and those taxes are growing because population and prosperity is growing and we want to get more work done.”
“As a country, we are facing the new realities and we are moving towards the use of gas and also we are developing our resources as quickly as possible so that when the real transition comes in 30 to 40 years’ time, we will be in a position to say this is a developed country that has taken advantage of its resources.”
