NAEE, APPO seed options for energy transition amid global threats

takeholders in Abuja, yesterday, insisted the country and other African nations must look away from the West as last resort over growing energy crisis on the continent.

The stakeholders, who gathered at the 16th conference of Nigerian Association for Energy Economics (NAEE), which focused on ‘Energy Evolution, Transition and Reform: Prospects for African Economies’, noted that a percentage of windfall from the oil and gas sector must be dedicated to developing the energy industry.

Secretary General, African Petroleum Producers’ Organisation (APPO) and Vice Chair, Africa, The World Energy Council, Dr. Umar Farouk, said Nigeria must reject the idea that Shell, Total, Chevron and others are divesting from the country because of bad operating environment.

According to him, international oil companies are only prioritising the decision of their shareholders, who are following the new order in guaranteeing energy security.

He said most economists and financial gurus, including Western consultancies that the country heavily relies on for advice on how to raise funds for oil and gas projects, have failed Nigeria.

He noted: “These experts have accepted that the world of oil and gas has changed since the advent of energy transition. But they have not come to terms with accepting the fact that what worked for the industry in the pre-energy transition era cannot work today, because times have changed and so have principal drivers of the industry. Instead of a complete overhaul of the old order approach of fundraising for the oil and gas industry, they go for fundamentally the same solution to what is essentially a new problem.

“Working on the premise that foreign capital is country blind, these experts tell us that, to attract foreign capital in today’s world of energy transition, our countries should be prepared to give more attractive fiscal regimes. We should be prepared to give more tax holidays, collect less tax, collect less royalty, give greater flexibility to repatriate funds and so on and so forth.”

Chief Executive of Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Gbenga Komolafe, said the global call for decarbonisation and increased focus on cleaner energies provide an avenue for Africa to diversify its portfolio, while leveraging its abundant oil and gas resources for energy security and economic development.

He said: “Africa, with its vast sources of renewable energy, has the potential, right leadership, reforms and adequate financing to easily transit to the use of other cleaner sources of energy. Nigeria, and indeed other African countries rich in hydrocarbon, is gradually shifting its attention to the use of natural gas as a major source of energy, while continuing in the exploitation of oil resources/reserves, which, for now, remain the major sources of revenue for the government.”

President of NAEE, Prof. Yinka Omorogbe, said Africa must choose its own pathways. “We trust that we will be able to proffer solutions that will aid energy transition for Nigerian and other African countries,” she insisted.