The Federal Government has said gas will continue to form a major part of the country’s energy mix until 2030.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Gbenga Komolafe, stated this at the Society for Petroleum Engineers Nigeria Council 2023 conference held in Lagos recently.
Komolafe said although the FG was still committed to achieving the United Nations’ 2060 zero emission goals, Nigeria would continue to explore its abundant gas resources for the development of its communities.
He added that the government was hoping to achieve part of the target through the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Limited’s Train 7, Nigeria-Morocco, and Ajaokuta gas pipeline projects.
Also, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd, Mele Kyari, represented by the EVP of Upstream, Adokiye Tombomieye, noted that Nigeria was not transitioning away from fossil fuels.
According to him, the target is to grow the gas reserves from the current 209.5 trillion cubic feet to 600 trillion cubic feet in the nearest future.
“Nigeria is not transitioning away from hydrocarbons. However, we hope 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. Today, Nigeria has about 209.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves with a potential upside of up to 600TCF, and this is an enormous resource that would drive cleaner and affordable energy vision,” he said.
Earlier, the Chairman of the conference, Felix Obike, said it was imperative for cleaner energy to be available to “all”, stressing the necessity to explore various avenues to achieving energy sufficiency in Africa.
The Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company, Eloho Aiboni, explained that to achieve the 2060 net-zero target, Nigeria needs to think of how to harness its different energy sources.
“We don’t need just one of the energy sources. Nigeria requires a mix to close the energy gap,” she said.
In his goodwill message, the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Gbenga Komolafe, who was represented by the Director of Health and Safety, Mustapher Lamorde, said the authority was working with the Federal Government to unlock the natural gas potential.
